eTPL 2012

The eProphecy Letter

June, 2012

Jerusalem: A Burdensome Stone

Why Will the Peace Talks Fail Again?

The writer remembers the latter years of the British Mandate in Palestine at the close of World War II. The Jews of Europe had just endured the Shoah, losing two thirds of its population in the war theater to the Nazi death machine. All the remaining Jews had been displaced from their homes in the war arena and were now “displaced persons” to the other citizens of the world.

The remaining three millions of people were desperately striving to leave Europe for freedom elsewhere. Palestine, as it was then known, had been under British control since 1918. Jews had been striving to emigrate there for the 27 years since that war but were permitted only in small numbers due to British restrictions on immigration to the land.

Which is difficult to understand in any context. The Land of Palestine was largely unoccupied. There were only two cities of any size at all – Jerusalem and Tel Aviv – and there were thousands of square miles of vacant land, or land owned by foreigners who were willing and anxious to sell it to the Jews. Yet Great Britain refused to allow an influx of Jews in contravention of the policy enunciated by the Balfour Declaration, which had stated that “his majesty’s government favored” that an homeland for the Jews be established there.

Britain had reneged on its earlier promise.

The reason for this was that the British navy was converting all its naval vessels from being coal-fired to being powered by bunker oil. They needed Arab oil. They needed Arab friendship and cooperation. The Jews really meant nothing to them. Their promise to the Jews meant nothing, as they proved.

The Jews of Palestine rebelled with great fury – far greater than the British thought possible. Still they diligently fought to keep the Jews out. Ships laden with Jewish refugees were intercepted on the high seas and made to proceed to British-controlled Cyprus, where they were herded ashore to be detained and were placed into “camps” similar to the ones in Germany and Europe.

A few ships threaded their way through the British blockade and grounded themselves on the beaches of Palestine where the passengers quickly debarked and fled into the adjacent hills to meld into the local population – illegal immigrants to “their own country” - not as intended by the Balfour document.

Men such as Menachem Begin and Zeev Jabotinsky formed Jewish brigades from the kibbutzim, trained themselves in military tactics, armed themselves as heavily as possible, and began to sabotage British installations and to capture British soldiers and officers. Their warfare was guerilla in style and intended to free their Land from the repressive British power.

Their enemies were the British overlords on a natural basis, but the local Arabs were their foes also. Britain confiscated any guns they found among the Jews and even gave them to the Arabs. They trained and equipped the Arab Legion of Jordan. They suppressed the Jewish brigades in every possible way.

But in the end their efforts were futile. This became apparent when the men of Manachem Begin’s group blew up the headquarters of the British Administration in a wing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing many Brits and several Arabs and Jews working there. Their telephoned warning of an imminent explosion had been coolly ignored by the Brits, much to their hurt.

As a youngster, I became exceedingly weary of hearing of this ongoing conflict, and wished it could end in the Jews’ favor. This act of sabotage seemed to have been the final damage that could be tolerated by Britain. They decided to give up their mandate over Palestine, and turn it over to the United Nations Organization for governance.

The great prophecies of The Return were about to be put into fast forward. Isaiah (11: 11) had prophesied many centuries earlier the recovery of the Jewish people from eight specific areas – all portions of the Arabs round about except the last (the islands of the sea, which indicates all other areas to which they had been scattered). 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 (after the rampage of murder of the Shoah), from Assyria… Egypt… Pathros… Cush… Elam… Shinar… Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

By the year 1955 this prophecy had largely been fulfilled! Recovery continues today from the last-designated places.

After Britain made its decision known, it was given a few months in which to make its preparations for departure. Meanwhile, the Jews were diligently at work on a governmental structure to succeed the British administration; forming a provisional government, a formalized army, a state currency, ministries, and other necessary infrastructure to permit them to function as a working government when the opportunity came.

It did come. The British decided to leave earlier than planned, and completed their withdrawal on the afternoon and evening of May 14, 1948. As their troops left the wharves of Haifa, David Ben Gurion stood before the Jewish Agency meeting in Tel Aviv and proclaimed the State of Israel in Palestine. It required only about eleven minutes for President Harry S Truman to recognize the new state (he was awaiting information on the official name of the new country!). The Soviet Union followed with its recognition within hours. Israel was on its way – to a savage War of Independence.

Because the Arab nations round about the new state would have none of this action. The forces of Egypt moved northward from the Sinai; the Arab Legion and the soldiers of Saudi Arabia approached from the east; Iraq sent a large contingent through northern Jordan to attack from the Golan Heights, where they were joined by a large force of Syrian troops and tanks; even tiny Lebanon sent soldiers into the north of Israel to try to take territory from the Jews.

From May, 1948, until the summer of 1949, these peoples fought doggedly. Israel’s population at the outset of the war was about 660,000 people of all ages. The Arab countries totaled around one hundred million people. But even in the face of these tremendous odds, the Jewish State not only survived, but expanded the borders it had been awarded by the UNO by about 160%, if my memory is correct.   

Now, under its own government, the Jewish State began to accept every new arrival who was a Jew. Even those who were aged and infirm, or stricken with fatal diseases, were allowed to enter the new State. The Jews finally had an homeland!

Although they had remarkable success against the invading forces in general, a peculiar aspect of the War of Independence was that the Jews were able to conquer and hold only half of Jerusalem. The “Old City” within the walls, and its eastern suburbs, were held by Jordan at the moment of truce. It was the fulfillment of Zechariah 14: 2 – that half the city should go forth into captivity, but that the remainder of the city would remain in the Jews’ hands.

Jerusalem thus became a “burdensome stone” – and has been so ever since.

The Jews proclaimed Jerusalem their eternal capital. They built the entire infrastructure of their government there. They located the Knesset (Parliament) Building in its western suburbs. Government institutions were located all over the same area. The municipality of Jewish Jerusalem grew and developed rapidly as more people arrived to populate it. It became a beautiful, thriving, Westernized metropolis in contrast to the Arab-held sector – a trashy, dilapidated, squalid village which was making no perceivable progress.

But tension and opposition grew as both Israel and the Arabs gained strength. The succeeding wars of 1956 (Suez), 1967 (The Six Day War) and 1973 (The Yom Kippur War) really settled none of the enmity, but resulted in Israel gaining huge tracts of land in addition to its original territory at the 1949 Truce.

The Arabs would not give up their demand to reclaim the lands they had lost as a result of their own aggression in each case. Israel actually annexed (officially added to the country) the Golan Heights and the Old City of Jerusalem and its eastern suburbs; they did not annex Judea and Samaria (called by the Arabs “the West Bank”) or Gaza or the Sinai. But they did administer these territories as the de facto owners.

Since that time they have ceded Sinai to Egypt in a peace treaty, and Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, which was usurped by Hamas in an election. The PA has nominal control over the ‘West Bank’ including Hebron, Jericho and Nablus (Shechem).

Since the Oslo Accords of 1993, the enmity between Israel and the Palestinians has continued. One major suppressing factor on terrorism has been the construction of The Wall which Israel has constructed running roughly along the ‘Green Line’ – the truce line of 1967.

Like the 1940s and 1950s, the period since seems absolutely peppered with “peace talks” which have borne no fruit. But the talking – or attempting to talk – continues. Israel has learned quite thoroughly that concessions do not lead to peace but to the Arab perception of weakness on the part of Israel. Their attitude makes for a no-win scenario. The violence emanating from Gaza against Jews has been many times as great since, in 2007, the Jews abandoned their holdings in Gaza and moved all the Jews out of the area. Hamas now is reported to have at least 10,000 missiles in place in Gaza – all aimed at Israel.

Israel’s withdrawal of forces from southern Lebanon likewise brought an intense infiltration of the forces of Hezbollah into south Lebanon to the extent that there are now estimated to be 100,000 missiles of all sorts on Israel’s northern border!

The forces of Hamas in Gaza and of Hezbollah in Lebanon are subsidized and largely supported by Iran who is known to have donated equipment, ammunition, supplies and money amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.

At the same time, the Palestinian Authority whines and complains about not readily receiving Jerusalem as capital of a State of “Palestine” which it is determined to establish in Israel. In Arabic they make it quite clear that the portion of Israel they want is ALL of Israel – and to push the Jew into the sea.

Like earlier US presidents, President Obama has made it his goal to get the “two state solution” in place – virtually to force the Jews to accept the Arabs’ conditions of “peace” not even realizing what these actually are!

With Obama’s tacit approval the PA leader Abu Abbas, chairman of the PA, insisted on a ten month freeze on Jewish building in Yesha (Judea and Samaria) as an initial basis just for “talks.” Late in 2009, PM Benyamin Netanyahu conceded and put in place a ten-month hold on new construction; its end would come in early October. The peace discussions should have begun immediately.

But for nine months Abbas would not convene a meeting with Netanyahu while insisting upon preconditions which instead should have been decided in negotiations. Approximately 30 days before the end of the “freeze” on construction, Abbas then decided to sit down to discuss peace; and now his pre-condition was that Netanyahu extend the freeze again, at least for sixty days. Mr. Netanyahu refused to do so, reasoning that Abbas had wasted nine of the ten months quibbling over nothing and did not deserve the consideration.

Well, in the natural course of affairs, the PA immediately appealed to Mr. Obama to lean hard on Israel to extend the freeze. They wanted to make concrete demands for the “return of Arab refugees” who they claim were displaced during Israel’s wars with the Arabs; to negotiate borders prior to any other discussions; to negotiate Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital; to claim numerous ephemeral Palestinian “rights” even in the face of all their prior aggression against Israel and its people.

This matrix of unreasonable, even outrageous demands, became the major blockage of any progress. The prophets of Israel foretold this present troublesome history many centuries ago.

Zechariah 12: 2, 3: Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all people that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. 

Jerusalem is the piece of the pie that is most coveted by the Arabs. During the second week of October, 2010, the Palestinian Authority Religious Affairs Minister threatened WAR over Jerusalem a mere week before “peace talks” in Washington. He warned that there would be war if Jerusalem is not “returned” to “its owners; and we are its owners.”

Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, writing in WorldNetDaily reported that, “With PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the audience, Mahmoud Al-Habbash declared in his Friday sermon, "Jerusalem can ignite a thousand and one wars,” according to a translation supplied by Palestinian Media Watch.

He is reported to have said, unless Jerusalem "becomes the capital of the Palestinian people, there is no peace … The term 'war' will not be erased from the lexicon ... as long as Jerusalem is occupied. If Jerusalem is dishonored, if Jerusalem is disgraced, if [Jerusalem] is lost, it may leave the door open to all possibilities of struggle, all possibilities of war.”  

He continued in his rant: "Jerusalem is not just a city. Al-Aqsa is not just a mosque. Jerusalem is the key to peace…. Unless Jerusalem will be (sic) Palestinian, as it was throughout history, the capital of the Palestinian state and the capital of the Palestinian people, the place which is the object of heartfelt longing and which all Muslims aspire to reach; unless Jerusalem is like that way (sic), there is no peace. There is no peace without Jerusalem. There is no stability without Jerusalem.”

The PA Minister of Religious Affairs is pathetically ignorant and obtuse! The italicized statements in the above paragraphs indicate quite plainly his abysmal ignorance and insensitivity.

(1)  He warned that there would be war if Jerusalem is not “returned” to “its owners; and we are its owners.” Not really, Mr. Al-Habbash! Your Koran doesn’t even MENTION Jerusalem once, and has nothing to say about its Owner, the Lord God of Israel, because your Koran knows only a diminutive stone idol called ‘allah’ chosen by Mahomet from 360 such ‘gods’ at the Kabala Stone at Mecca about 1400 years ago, which was about 2700 years after the living Creator and God of all the earth manifested Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai!

(2)  "Jerusalem can ignite a thousand and one wars,” said he, apparently knowing little of the history of Jerusalem: that it has already done so. Yet, who holds Jerusalem today? The Jews. An enemy who shall soon NO LONGER EXIST can ignite NO conflict over Jerusalem; that outcome will soon become a fact.

(3)  Unless Jerusalem "becomes the capital of the Palestinian people, there is no peace!” You must never have noted the history of Manasseh, who in II Chronicles 33:7 “… set a carved image (exactly similar to your “allah”), the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David, and to Solomon his son, ‘In this house and in Jerusalem have I chosen before all the tribes of Israel, WILL I PUT MY NAME FOREVER.”  So how does such an usurper as yourself honestly feel he has a right to a City whose owner is The Almighty God of Israel? It shall NEVER become a “Palestinian” capitol.

(4)  “as long as Jerusalem is occupied …”  If you mean “inhabited” you’ve lost the game! Jerusalem shall be inhabited by the Lord God of Israel and His people the Jews forever; that’s a long time for you to wait.

(5)  “If Jerusalem is dishonored, if Jerusalem is disgraced, if [Jerusalem] is lost, it may leave the door open to all possibilities of struggle …” Believe me, Jerusalem has been dishonored, disgraced, and LOST by you Arabs, never to be regained in a trillion years. Your cause is diseased and loathsome. Your goal is unattainable, vapid, and illusionary.

(6)  “Unless Jerusalem will be Palestinian, as it was throughout history ….” Now, now … Don’t be so sure of your imaginary “history” of Jerusalem. It really NEVER has been “Palestinian” in identity. For 19 years (1948 to 1967) one could have called it Jordanian, but NEVER Palestinian. But let’s face it – the Jordanians won’t even allow your kind to inhabit their soil with any kind of freedom, but keep you sequestered in squalid “refugee camps” and feed you as little as possible, not allowing you to work or go to school. You are mere pawns on the international chess board, beggars from the UNO – the lowest of the low in your race’s estimation!

(7)  “There is no peace without Jerusalem. There is no stability without Jerusalem.” You are correct! But your premise is entirely wrong. There is no peace outside of JEWISH possession of Jerusalem, and no stability of the local polity until that matter is settled for eternity. When your people had control of East Jerusalem between 1948 and 1967, your soldiers fired on Jewish citizens in West Jerusalem from the crenellated walls of the Old City each day. Your international crossing for neutral visitors was a dangerous no-man’s land at the Mandelbaum Gate, where tourists were forced to carry their luggage across a barren terrain watched over by soldiers of both sides. You trashed and destroyed everything Jewish in the Old City, including dozens of synagogues. You blocked the Western Wall with trash and debris. You imprisoned or expelled its Jewish citizens. You allowed no Jewish visitors to the Western Wall or the Temple Mount.

So there is absolutely no reason for anyone to suppose that the “peace talks” are really that. For they are not! Because the province of Syrian Palestine was once controlled by Turkey – a Muslim Empire – the Arabs now consider the entire land to be Islamic forever. In their mind it MUST be liberated from the “infidel” (i.e., anyone who disagrees with Mahomet and his “allah”) at some point; Islam’s ignorant Imams dictate no rest until it is so liberated. Then, when all formerly Muslim land has been reclaimed such as Spain, South France, the Balkans, etc., the Muslims intend then to continue on to conquer the rest of the world! In their minds the entire world must be converted to Islam. It is the only way for them to prove the invincibility of “allah” over all others.

It is a vain, blatantly goofy, and unrealistic goal! If Islam gained control of the world it could not even feed the population. Technology would be thrown out and abandoned. Nearly everything that did NOT exist during the life of Mahomet would be repudiated. Even bicycles would be forbidden as a mode of transportation (but the jackass would be back in style!). The world would regress to the darkest of the Dark Ages. Sharia Law would prevail everywhere – a severe system of rules and regulations that are repressive to women and every non-Muslim, demonic in its scale of punishments for even minor transgressions, reflecting the whims and desires of the Mullahs, with no attention to divinely given rights of humanity. Civilized society would not survive.

We can be absolutely certain that this will not be humanity’s destiny, for it is not Yahweh’s will!

The God of Israel has “appointed a day (Acts 17: 31, in the real Scriptures) in the which He will judge the world in righteousness, by that Man Whom He hath ordained, whereunto He hath given assurance to ALL men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” Muslims, if they consider themselves “men” are included in that announcement; they shall not be able to escape it.

So the Muslim world must face the music. Jerusalem as their permanent capital of “Palestine” is a hooka-pipe dream having no possibility or basis in reality. So just give it up now, and start spending the relief money on food for the squalid masses instead of ammunition.

So the burdensome aspect of Jerusalem shall continue for a while yet and grow even more acute. As we can see almost daily, the intrigue over the city is growing quickly and deeply. The popular news media of the world favor the “Palestinian” cause. They object to any new building in Jerusalem, and even the replacement of illegally constructed houses in the Silwan area of the City, south of Temple Mount adjacent to the Pool of Siloam, an area which, like so many, is hideously blighted by Arab squatters. The Municipality of Jerusalem plans to demolish about 20 houses which never obtained building permits – masonry shacks really – to make room for a new park to be called The King’s Gardens. It will be a lovely recreational area for Jerusalemites of all religions modeled upon the gardens planted there by King David over 3,000 years ago.

Of course the news media has leaped upon this project with rabid disfavor. Leslie Stahl of Sixty Minutes absolutely excoriated the Mayor of Jerusalem on a recent Sunday, whining that the plan would “compromise the peace process!” Leslie! … just breathing in and out will accomplish the same purpose! We wonder if she is really so obtuse as to believe that this is a real process, or that it will ever “go forward,” or achieve any positive results.

But that’s the way it is this week in strife-ridden Jerusalem, the renowned City of Peace, whose tranquility is not ready to settle upon it quite yet. Still, the admonition Sha’alu Shalom Yerushalyim – to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” – still stands, and is more urgent than ever before.

                                                <HEL MD/USA, June, 2012>

The eProphecy Letter

May ,2012

All the Nations of the Earth Against Jerusalem?

An eTPL Position Paper

H E Lafferty

Please Note: Although there is a separate Section for Position Papers, we feel strongly enough about this matter to issue it as our offering for May.

There has for many years existed among sincere believers the strong conclusion that every nation on earth in some form or another would be gathered literally and physically against Jerusalem to battle, and that this is the “battle of Armageddon.”  

We have adequately addressed the subject of Armageddon in other papers, so that consideration is not part of this present essay.

Is this a valid conclusion – that all the nations of the whole earth shall gather physically against Jerusalem – and by implication – against Israel?

What do the scriptures have to say about it?

We need to consider the facts as well as we can determine them. And we can do that!

Chief among biblical commentaries on the subject is the 12th chapter of Zechariah. It comprehensively addresses the historical time in which we live today. We quote it below and comment on its message. (This A. V. text is as downloaded from E Sword.)

Zechariah 12:1  The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

Zec 12:2  Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling (Strong H7478, ra’al, a reeling (from intoxication, trembling) unto all the people 

round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.This “cup” relates directly to intoxication with the subject of Jerusalem and its possession. If you have ever observed a drunken person closely – one severely affected by ethyl alcohol – you will have noted his intense difficulty with walking, his incoherent reasoning, his disturbed balance, his misplaced logic, his slurred speech.

It is a pitiful state of incompetence and failure of character.

A rudimentary test of intoxication by police officers is to have the subject try to walk a straight line – which he cannot do; he reels side to side, and falls forward or backward, uncoordinated, and often quivering or convulsing. He cannot with certainty even touch his nose with an outstretched finger – a simple task easily accomplished when in full charge of his faculties.

The Islamic idealism of possession of Jerusalem is extremely similar. They are intoxicated with the notion that Jerusalem is theirs to possess to the utter exclusion of the Jews whose capital city it is. They are obsessed with Jerusalem as surely as an alcoholic is addicted to drink; they are unable to withdraw from their intention to possess it at all costs (cf., Psalm 83: 12).

Another comment of Zechariah adds enlightenment here as to the siege of the City:  Zech 14: 14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

Are we aware of a siege against Jerusalem and Judah (the Jewish State) having occurred in our lifetime? YES! It has been an ongoing struggle officially since May, 1948, when Israel proclaimed itself a state; it was already occurring against the Jews who had made Aliyah before that date. They were being killed and ravaged in disturbing numbers leading up to the proclamation of the state.  Our day occupies the space just before the semicolon in the 14th verse; Israel has not yet gathered together the wealth of all the nations (heathen) round about her. That certainty lies in her future!

Meanwhile, she is in the midst of a siege – a protracted WAR. But it is a war prosecuted ONLY by the “people round about,” and no others; not all nations of the earth.

The War of Independence was forced upon Judah and Jerusalem by seven hostile powers at its birth in one day – May 14, 1948. The infant State survived – but lost the Old City of Jerusalem to the hostiles while maintaining possession of half the City (Zechariah 14:2).

But the next conflict within the Land (19 years later) was the Six Day War. Israel warned Jordan (which then occupied Old Jerusalem and the eastern portion of the ancient kingdom of Israel down to the River Jordan) to remain neutral. King Hussein did not heed their warning and instantly lost all the territory he had occupied in 1948 to the lightning strike issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The siege was actual and in real time as foretold by Zechariah! It was televised almost as it happened.

However, this was but one of the early stages of a protracted series of conflicts which shall yet end as Zechariah 14: 14 predicts – with “the wealth of all the heathen round about” (those we refer to as the Proximal Islamic States) being taken by God’s people.

We have not seen this outcome as yet, but the day draws nearer for it to occur.

Zec 12:3  And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

What of this terminology “all the people of the earth” – does that mean literally all the nations of the earth? In a geopolitical context it might; for example the UN member states almost unanimously, but only rhetorically, fret and fume over the “problem” of Jerusalem daily. Two thirds of all the legal decisions of the UN Security Council have been concerned with Israel, specifically – a people which forms about 1/1000 of the entire population of the earth. In a real sense, ALL the people of the earth ARE NOW gathered against Jerusalem (as representative of the entire Israeli people and nation).

But who is actively engaged in the struggle? Only the nations round about are “gathered together against it” as a physical reality, and are intimately concerned with taking Jerusalem as the capital of a “Palestinian” state, and of ridding the land of all the Jews. 

Regardless of our personal convictions, this fact is extremely important to a basic understanding of this “problem.” These specific enemies are those who are designated “all the people of the earth” for the earth is the “earth” of God’s land; all  these powers inhabit God’s land at the present time – which land is that designated by the Promises to Abraham in Genesis 12 and 15 et seq; and to his descendant David and his Son in II Samuel 7.

The Hebrew for “earth” here is Strong’s H776, eretz, from an unused root, probably meaning to be firm, the earth (at large, or partivively, a land) which in this case is God’s Designated Land of Israel – for they are all the remaining “other” inhabiters at this time, later to be expelled and their wealth appropriated to the Lord’s kingdom and people.

Therefore it is the inhabitants of THAT specific “earth” that are gathered together against it in a most unified attack, as we see daily being constructed and mounted against God’s people.

We believe such details are supremely important to our deeper, more sensitive, more accurate understanding of God’s intent; it is in the intense study of the fine details of the prophets’ utterances that the finer points of transition and fulfillment are discerned. These CANNOT be overlooked or ignored because in them is the essence of His revelation to us! In this way the picture comes alive for our studied consideration and profit.

Zec 12:4  In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every (enemy) horse with astonishment, and his (enemy) rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the (enemy) people with blindness.

Zec 12:5  And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.

Zec 12:6  In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 

That phraseology indicates a safe, SURE habitation of her rightful place – ALL parts of the City (East and West, North and South) as eternal Capital of the entire Inheritance … purely and simply … and straightforwardly!

Have we not seen this described strength of Israel already manifested? What about the lightning manner in which Israel took the Old City in the Six Day War? – a conflict which lives in the military exploits of the world as not only one of the most rapid but also one of the most decisive victories ever won by a military force in all history! As a result, Jerusalem was “inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.” And note specifically that it was the forces of JUDAH which did this – the identity of Israel as constituted at present. The dispute rages on with the defeated enemies whining and complaining of their oppression at Israel’s hand!

But so far we have seen only the leading edge of Israel’s strength, enhanced without any doubt by the power of God being expressed through the Archangel Michael, the angel who “stands for the children of (Daniel’s) people” (the Jews) – Daniel 12: 1-2. We believe the nations of Israel’s enemies have not seen anything yet! Its divine strength shall be seen clearly when Israel shall DEVOUR all the people round about!

Zec 12:7  The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.

Zec 12:8  In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. 

Here Judah is being led by “the Lord” Who is defending them, their being God’s battle axe and weapon of war …. But in a different case than the text in which similar phraseology is found: Jeremiah 51:20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; here the text referred specifically to Babylon as target of his people. This entire chapter is concerned with the fate of Babylon at the hand of the Medes and Persians; but its meaning extends also to the nations as punished terminally by ISRAEL in the day of ITS strength and favour – actions which are graphically depicted in this 8th verse of Zechariah 12, the angel of the Lord being designated Michael, the Archangel of Israel.

Zec 12:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Herein lies one of the major reasons that we can be certain that not all the nations of the earth (from Iceland to Argentina to Mynamar) are destined to “come against Jerusalem” in any physical way.

Because our Father decidedly tells us that ALL THESE which DO come against Jerusalem shall be DESTROYED. If He thus destroys all the nations of the whole earth (instead of all the limited number of (designated) nations that come against Jerusalem) he would have no subjects for His future kingdom. There would be no nations left to convert to the way of life in that kingdom. He should have destroyed all future hope of the international conversion of peoples to the Gospel which He clearly intends.

Think about that! 

It is critically important to the understanding of this prophecy!

One other critical consideration is this: The purpose of this war over Jerusalem is to rid THE LAND of the brute beasts which threaten Israel and its people – not to acquire all the nations of the earth and subject them to Christ in this early action. Christ’s kingdom is prophesied to expand and develop in a progressive, orderly, unrelenting fashion. His first goal is to clear the Land of Israel – its Abrahamic Inheritance for Israel – of all enemies and threats. This action shall achieve that end perfectly!

Zec 12:10  And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

It is decisively AT THIS TIME that Messiah is to be revealed to the children of Judah – the house of David – as they look upon Jesus Whom they previously have denied, and recognize Him as their long-awaited Messiah. That recognition brings about the great mourning described in the next verses. It is equivalent to the mourning they observed when King Josiah was slain at Hadadrimmon.

After that time their blessing shall be greater by far than their oppression and punishment to date. He shall do better to them then than at their beginning (Ezekiel 36:11).

Zec 12:11  In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

Zec 12:12  And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

Zec 12:13  The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;

Zec 12:14  All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

 ANOTHER SERIOUS FACET 

TO ALL THESE ENDTIME AFFAIRS

There is another facet to the above discussion which is extremely relevant, and it is this:

Some readers of prophecy (I cannot use the term “students” – and certainly not “scholars”) stubbornly claim that Israel as we know it is destined for a great defeat at the hand of someone – some national power or coalition (Gogian, Islamic, or International?? – views differ) – And that there will be (another) 2/3 destruction of God’s people!  That the remnant of these now in the Land shall be scattered to Egypt yet again, and be finally rescued by the returned Lord Jesus.

Yet, even a cursory overview of the above consideration absolutely denies that this can happen! [And besides, that scenario is not that which is prophesied to be expected; that scenario is a figment of someone’s imagination which has NO BASIS for credence!]

WHAT MAY WE REALLY EXPECT??

The Prophet is entirely clear:

·         Zechariah 12: 3 concretely states that all Jerusalem’s enemies that burden themselves with it shall be CUT IN PIECES …

·         Zechariah 12: 4 concretely states that every horse (instrument or war or terror) shall be smitten with BLINDNESS and his rider with MADNESS…

·         Zechariah 12: 5 concretely states that the inhabitants (of Jerusalem) shall be my STRENGTH in the Lord …

·         Zechariah 12: 6 concretely states that the governors of JUDAH  shall be like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left … and further that  Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

·         Zechariah 12: 7 concretely states that The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah.

·         Zechariah 12: 8 concretely states that In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem not allow them to be conquered and destroyed! – stating that even the weakest among them shall exhibit the mastery of David over his enemies, and the stronger ones (the house of David) shall be AS GOD – as THE ANGEL OF THE LORD BEFORE THEM.

·         Zechariah 12:9 concretely states that in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

·         Zechariah 12: 10 surely puts the lie to the people’s being conquered and scattered, in the comprehensive statements, that I (GOD) will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

The intense and pervasive mourning that is depicted through verse 14, as well as all these preceding words of God, put the ETERNAL LIE to any notion that His people are EVER to be conquered and dispersed and murdered in ANY future time after being regathered the second time (Isaiah 11: 11)!

Those who claim that this is true give as an excuse for their prejudice (I do hesitate to use the phrase anti-Semitism against the people of modern Israel … but IS IT SUCH???) will offer their feeble objection that Israel is proud and arrogant – and depends upon itself and not God – for its defense; that it does not yet recognize Jesus as Messiah and Christ, so how could it justly expect such divine protection??

The claim that Israel depends upon itself is certainly true! This is a fact, at least in part – though not wholly applicable to everyone in Israel!  After all, how can Israel REALLY depend upon others? It has proven to be a futile cause in the past, and only fragile promises are in front of them for allies in the present crisis. So they MUST depend upon themselves – even without the assurance that WE have as believers that they shall always have Eternal support.

HOWEVER … THIS CLAIM OF ISRAEL’S SELF-SUFFICIENCY (ENFORCED AS IT IS) IS A SERIOUS MISREADING OF GOD’S WORD. SUCH WOULD-BE EXPOSITORS ARE NOT WORTHY OF ANY CREDENCE. THEY HAVE SERIOUSLY GONE AGAINST THE CLEAR WORDS OF GOD. THEY HAVE NO GROUNDS FOR DEFENSE.

Are these critics (for such they are) completely unaware of the prophecy of Zechariah 12 and 13, in which the process of Israel’s recognition of its gross error is to be realized and all Israel brought to the humble repentance they require?  

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE for Israel yet in (our) present time to know what they shall know and acknowledge in the near future – namely that Jesus of Nazareth IS their Messiah; that they DID erroneously crucify him (at least assented to that crime) in 29 AD; that all these things were CLEARLY foretold in the scriptures and that they IGNORED those words; that the Almighty has a plan for salvation for ALL the peoples of the earth; that Jesus of Nazareth IS THEIR Savior and on and on …

In short … it is unreasonable to claim that Israel was not destined to return to their land IN IGNORANCE of all these core principles!  These critics have no excuse for their being unaware that the Jews of the world were commanded IN THEIR GROSS IGNORANCE to “return to the children of Israel” (i.e., to their Land) in the Endtime AFTER the Father’s period of having ABANDONED them for millennia came to its end – that is, more precisely that the Jews’ fortunes would drastically reverse WHEN SHE WHO WAS TO BRING FORTH BROUGHT FORTH – Micah chapter 5 is extremely relevant here – that is, when Israel was brought into existence (literally, birthed) by the Agency (the Jewish Agency of the World Zionist Organization) which actually “mothered” the State of Israel, bringing it forward to birth and delivering it 1948 under the DIRECT GUIDANCE AND HELP of the Archangel Michael – a factor which we are unmistakably taught by a faithful reading of Daniel 12: 1-2.

No critic of Israel can possibly have grounds for claiming that Israel cannot or could not return to its Land permanently without first accepting Christ as Messiah and all the implications involved in that realization – because that IS NOT what Zechariah was inspired to relate to faithful students of God’s word! It CANNOT have happened any other way – and especially not in the way implied in such severe critics’ minds when they make wild and unsubstantiated statements similar to those above.

Our understanding must be bent, shaped, and moulded to fit our Father’s stated intentions – not dictate to Him what must be done by His people at any given time!!

And so … Believe it or Not – Acknowledge it or Not – Admit it or Not – Agree to it or Not – even Like it or Not - all ends well for Israel just as it stands today! Her critics are dead wrong; the Word is dead right: no contest!    

One final word: we do tend to become enthusiastic (exercised? dogmatic? – maybe – but at least, intelligently informed) when confronted with these insensitive and UNSUBSTANTIABLE claims of some unfeeling, hard-hearted, and false critics of Israel – but especially those who really have no excuse for not knowing otherwise – from among the Elect, the Chosen, the Redeemed.

We cannot resist defending God’s people Israel (for such they are!) in their present uninformed ignorance of God’s way, as yet unrealized by them.

Hath God cast away His people? inquired the Apostle (Romans 11: 1); God forbid!

They are to be commended greatly for resisting conversion and assimilation with blood and tear and treasure the centuries of apostasy and oppression of “Christian” opposition and the anti-Semitism which originated within Christendom and from its hired minions. 

The Master’s final words to the Scribes and Pharisees of His day were those recorded in Luke 13: 34, 35  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! 35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

That specific “coming” is addressed in Zechariah 12 and 13, revealing exactly how Israel shall be brought forward not only to recognition (“seeing Him”) but also enthusiastic and sincere acceptance of Him by their somber recognition of His Strength and Benevolence on their behalf! They are “gonna be okay” folks!                 <HEL MD/USA, May 1, 2012> :: 3750 words.

The eProphecy Letter

April, 2012

The “Time of the End” 

in Daniel 11 & 12

Joseph Arabia

In the eleventh and twelfth of Daniel, when is “the time of the end”?  And, “whose” end, as well as, what is “ending”?  There are a number of possible different and distinct “ends” addressed in this one vision.  

There is the “time of the end” of the last king of the south (11:40).  There is the “time of the end” of the last king of the north (11:45).  There is the “end” – to “accomplishing [“to finishing”] to scattering the … holy people” (12:1 & 12:7).  There is the “time of the end” (12:3-4 & 13) pertaining to the resurrection of the saints, and finally the “end” of the “sealing” of the vision (12:9) – the time period when believers will be permitted a correct understanding of the vision, especially the latter day end-time periods – the 1260, 1290 and 1335 days (12:7-12) and their correct interpretations.  Presently, no one has put forth any reasonable cohesive explanation connecting the 1260 and the 1290 to the 1335 days.  The end day of 1335, is still apparently “sealed” – closed to a correct interpretation.

It is important when we attempt to answer these questions, that we make no mental separation or distinction between the 11th and 12th chapters.  Both chapters are part of the one-vision and should so be interpreted.  It would be a serious mistake to mentally separate the one-vision based upon the insertion of the break often offered by chapter divisions. 

Originally, all Old Testament Scriptures (with the exception of the Greek LXX translation in around 275 BC), were one continuous book with no insertion of vowels, punctuations marks, spacing between words, nor chapter or verse designations.  Chapters, and a little later on verses, were first introduced into our New Testament Bible by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury who died in 1228.  This system was extremely effective and therefore received universal acceptance.  Shortly thereafter, Jewish scholars introduced chapter division into the Old Testament and in 1448 Rabbi Nathan introduced verse divisions into the Old Testament.  Rabi Nathan’s verse designation was quickly adopted in the New Testament.

It is important to recognize that chapter and verse designations are man-made and not part of original Scripture.  Consequently we must accept, based upon the internal evidence of Daniel 11 and 12, that the vision that begins in 11:1 is one continuous vision which does not finish until the end of the book of Daniel.

The vision begins in the “first year of Darius … the Mede” (Dan. 11:1 & 9:1).  This was coincidentally also the “first year of Cyrus king of Persia [the first year of the Medo/Persian Empire]” who “made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom … saying … he [God] has charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem [marking the restoration from or the “end” of the first Babylonian captivity (scattering) of the “holy people”] (Ezra 1:1-2).  The vision that begins in the eleventh chapter of Daniel begins at the same time that the land of Israel had completed her “Seventy years Sabbath’s rest” (Daniel 9:2; Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10; 2 Chron. 36:20-23 and Isaiah 44:26-28 + 45:1-5). This same time period also determined the “end” of the first Babylonian scattering with the return of the Jews and the uniting of the “holy people” of Israel with the “land of Israel” under Ezra and Nehemiah. 

The vision contained in Daniel 11 and 12 continues chronologically. After “three kings of Persia” we have the “Grecian” king Alexander the Great (331 BC), who upon his death, his kingdom “shall not [be left] to his posterity.”  Alexander having no heirs, his kingdom was to be divided “unto the four winds” (Daniel 11:4).  Each of Alexander’s four Generals received his own sovereign territory.  General Ptolemy Lagus controlled the land south of Jerusalem (Dan.11:5). General Seleucus Nicator controlled the land North of Jerusalem (Dan. 11:6).  “The northern kingdom continued till B.C. 67, when it was attached to the iron leg; the southern kingdom … [to A.D. 29], when it was also merged into the iron dominion.” (Elpis Israel, 1958, pp. 325-6). 

As history progressed, we come to the “last days” of the Jewish commonwealth – the “end” of the Jewish age in AD 33-70 with the sacrificial atonement of Jesus “Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 14:61-2), for the redemption, not only of the Jews, but also of “the world” (John 3:16).   Subsequently, after the third “overturning” (Ezek 21:27) of the three Levitical temples in Jerusalem – (1) Solomon’s temple; (2) Nehemiah’s temple, and (3) Herod's temple) – we have the Roman worldwide, second scattering (Diaspora) of the “holy people” in AD 135 (cf., Isaiah 11: 11).   

The last “king of the north”: After around 600 A.D., Arab Islam, coming out of Saudi Arabia gained military control of the Middle East.  The “end” of this Islamic empire over Jerusalem occurred in 1917.  The last Islamic king of the north (Dan. 11:45), who desired to continue the “scattering of the holy people” (Dan. 12:7), was the Ottoman Empire.  The prophecy continues chronologically, and so should our prophetic interpretation of events. 

What follows chronologically, after the end of the last Islamic “king of the north” is that “a time of trouble for the children of thy [Daniel’s] people” (12:1) takes place.  

The “children of thy people” can only mean the “children of Israel – the “holy people” (12:7); that’s what this vision is entirely about – what those who “rule the Earth” have done or will do to Jerusalem as represented in the Jewish community – God’s “holy people.”

There are two excellent reasons why the “children of thy people” cannot apply to the saints. 

·         Firstly, the saints only become immortal (Dan. 12:3) after the last king of the north “comes to his end.” 

·         Secondly, if the “holy people” in verse 12:1 has reference to Christian saints, what is their (place in the) fulfillment in the events mentioned from 11:1 through verse 45?  Surely the Scriptural prophecies contained between Dan. 11:1 and verse 45 can only have reference to natural Israel and not to Spiritual Israel – the saints.  Therefore, natural Israel, and only after the demise of the “last king of the north” (11:45) is to experience a “time of trouble, such a never was, since there was a nation” (12:1). 

Consequently, the “time of trouble” (Dan. 12:1), can only be applied to the Jewish community.  Furthermore, this time of trouble chronological occurs after the destruction of the last king of the north Dan. 11:45) – the Ottoman Empire.  After the demise of the Ottoman Empire in 1917, the Jews are to experience trouble “such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time” (12:1).   This is what Jeremiah prophesied as “the time of Jacob’s trouble...in a land that is afar” (Jer. 30:7-10).  This “time of trouble” (Dan.12:1) was the European Holocaust which occurs during Israel’s “captivity” and, in a land that is “afar” (Jer. 30:10). 

This “time of Jacob’s trouble” was to be a unique event in the annals of human history – “such as never was since there was a nation event to that time”.  It was the attempted Nazi genocide of the entire Jewish population living under Hitler’s domain – the “final solution” for Jews living in Hitler’s Europe (1933-1945).  Twelve years: one year for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.  

Sadly, the spirit of “fear & trembling” which God had prophesied would be the Jewish spirit in and throughout their scattering – the Diaspora (see Deut. 28:64-67, Lev. 26:33-38) would assist the Nazi party (as well as IBM’s high speed punch-card technology – see IBM AND THE Holocaust by Edwin Black, 2001), into efficiently herding millions upon millions of Jews, compliantly first into ghettos, and then into concentration camps from which few escaped.  Hitler’s mega-mania was successful in accomplishing a “2/3 – 6,000,000 extermination of European Jewry” (Washington Holocaust Museum, also see Jewish History Atlas by Martin Gilbert).  The Holocaust which lasted from 1933 to 1945 was the “time of Jacob’s trouble” as prophesied in the “2/3 destruction” spoken of in Zech. 13:7-9 and the “time of trouble” (Daniel 12:1) for the “holy people” – natural Israel (Daniel 12:7).  

The prophecy then continues; “and at that time [1947 U.N. vote] thy people [Daniel’s people – the Jewish community] shall be delivered [in type, the resurrection (Ezek. 37) of the sovereign State of Israel in 1948 (Daniel 12:1)].  During the early years of the Holocaust, and for those who were able to purchase their escape, and because of German laws, they were permitted to take (only) one suitcase (as they fled Europe), for only those Jews bound for Palestine, the majority of the 1/3 that remained, ended up in the land of Palestine.

An important distinction in this prophecy, is that no one would be able to fully understand the entirety of the prophecy, especially the latter end “days” portion, because Daniel was instructed to “shut up the words, and seal the book [the vision that he has just been given], even to the “time of the end ” (Dan. 12:4 & 9).  In other words the correct interpretation of this vision would not be possible until very close to the “time of the end,” whenever or whatever “end” is being addressed.   But, when that “end” does occur, believers will have the insight (or more accurately, the hindsight) to get a complete and correct understanding of the vision.

Accordingly, almost all commentators, Christians and Christadelphians alike, are in general agreement in the interpretation of the first two-thirds of this vision (the first 2000 years), up to around the 40th verse of Daniel 11, which introduces the “end” of the last “king of the south” as well as the last “king of the north,” both of whom opposed the resurrection, or the re-establishment of a “national homeland” for the Jewish community in the ancient homeland – the land of Israel. 

There has always existed among all, a great many different interpretations beginning from verse 11:40 to the end of Daniel 12:13.  Specifically, this is because the vision was “closed up and sealed till [or, until] the time of the end” (Dan. 12:9). 

Unfortunately for Christadelphia, John Thomas took his faithful sleep in Christ in 1871, which was before the beginning of any of the “times” of any of the “ends” as identified in our second paragraph.  This is the main cause why both John Thomas, as well as all the other non-Christadelphian prophetic expositors on the “day,” and a very limited number of the related events (those events directly dealing with the nations and their relationship with the resurrection of the State of Israel), as well as Christ’s Second Advent did not come, nor will come to fruition.  

In no century in human history was there a greater concentration of highly qualified, enormously insightful biblical scholars as those who lived in the 1800’s.  Almost all of our Christian reference books such as concordances and scholarly commentators were produced in the 1800’s.  Even in the area of prophecy, for both Christadelphians and non-Christadelphians alike, no other century comes even close to matching the quality and quantity of tremendous biblical scholars and their prolific production of great Christian writings.  Yet despite their enormous biblical wealth, they all missed the mark in the interpretation of Daniel’s end “days.”  Please note that it was not (due to) their lack of biblical prophecy knowledge.  On the contrary, they were of men, the most qualified biblical scholars the world has ever, or will ever know!   Bible students living in the 1800’s simply lived a hundred years before the time when the vision could be correctly understood because in the 1800’s, the vision was still “sealed up” – closed to a correct interpretation.

From Daniel 12:5 to 12:13 various time periods are given to facilitate the “end” of these events.  It will not be our object to discuss these days, but rather to concentrate on the primary purpose for this vision, which is given in the closing words of 12:7.  These closing words are similar to the opening words spoken at the beginning of the vision.  Both having reference to the “end” of the two scatterings (the first by the Babylonians, and the second by the Romans) of the “holy people.”

In the opinion of this writer, the latter part of Daniel 12:7 is the most important and key portion of the entire vision.  If one correctly understands this portion of the vision, one will not be far from a correct, comprehensive understanding of the entire vision.  

Daniel 12:7 “… and when he [the last king of the north] shall have accomplished [finished his desire] to scatter the power of thy holy people, all these things shall be finished [have their “end” with the resurrection of the State of Israel – a type of the resurrection of the saints – Christ’s Second Advent].”

Daniel 12:7 “… when the dispersion [Diaspora] is ended [with the resurrection of the State of Israel] they shall [begin] to know all things” (Septuagint – LXX).

Who is the “he”?  With the exception of “Darius the Mede” at the very beginning of the vision (11:1), no other king or person is specifically identified by a name!  So, how do we go about identifying who the “he” is? We can do so only by following the principle of consistency of interpretation.  Contained within this vision are the interactions between the kings, north and south of Israel.  Whenever a king, or in a few cases, a Queen’s actions is involved, pronouns such as he, him, she, her, they or them are used.  This occurs over 60 times in this vision.  The major pronoun employed is “he.”  The last king to be identified by the word “he” is the last king of the north.  Therefore, we can conclude, based upon consistency of interpretation, that the “he” in the latter part of 12:7 has reference to the last “king of the north,” whose demise – “coming to his end” – is specifically mentioned in (11:45).      

Who are “thy holy people”?  “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee [the Jewish people] into the land whither thou goest to possess it … For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people[s] that are upon the face of the earth” (Deut. 7:1 & 6).  “And the LORD has avouched [chosen] thee this day to be his peculiar [distinct, special] people, as he hath promised thee … that thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken” (Deut. 26:18-19).  The “holy people” are the Jewish people – the “people of Israel” who desire to return and be united with the “land of Israel” – Zion, Zionism – the present State of Israel.

The Ottoman Empire (1288-1917) was the last Islamic “king” north of Jerusalem (whose capital was in modern day Turkey) who desired to continue the second Jewish scattering.  He was the last king north of Jerusalem who resisted the resurrection (Ezek. 36 & 37) of the Israeli people to Statehood.  “He” came to his “end” on Oct. 3, 1917 with his surrender because of Britain’s unquestionable victory at Megiddo (Sept., 1917), “between the seas [the Mediterranean and Galilean seas] … yet he shall come to his end” (11:45) during WW1. 

Just as we had at the end of the first Jewish scattering Cyrus’ proclamation, we coincidentally have, at the same time of the “end” of the second Jewish scattering – the “end” of the Ottoman Empire, we have, Lord Balfour’s Declaration (Nov. 2, 1917), speaking on behalf of the British government, expressing their desire for the establishment of a “national homeland” for the Jewish people – the “holy people.”   After the end of the WW1 (1917), Britain for the most part, had dominion over much of the Middle East.  

While Britain, with her lips, professed a “national homeland” for the Jews from shortly after 1917, she did everything in her power as occupier of the land of Israel to resist and hinder Jewish immigration and the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine.  This even went as far as offering Uganda, Africa as the “national homeland” for the Jews to Dr. Herzl, who in his biblical ignorance accepted the offer.  Shortly after Herzl’s unexpected natural death, and Uganda was rejected, Britain issued the infamous “black paper,” whose intention was to reverse what the Belford Declaration initial stated.  British officers organized and trained an Arab army – the Arab League into an effective fighting machine that was permitted to accumulate and bear arms.   At the same time, Britain prohibited all Jews from carrying and accumulating arms – guns that would be critically necessary for the establishment of an independent Jewish State.  From shortly after WW1, and after WW2, Britain was virtually in a “state of war” with the “people of Israel” living in the “land of Israel.”   Britain was because of severe financial bankruptcy, forced to pull out of the Middle East by midnight, April 13, 1948.  

“Harold Beeley [1947, spokesperson for the British Minister] allowed himself a frank prediction: “There is no prospect that a two-thirds majority [of the United Nations] will vote for a solution satisfactory to Zionism … any motion involving partitioning would fail…” The then-current view among Zionists was that an imperial power [Britain] rarely moves out of anywhere voluntarily and that even if the United Nations adopted a partition resolution, Britain would cling to Palestine tooth and nail” (Personal Witness Israel Through My Eyes by Abba Eban, p.103).

On November 29, 1947 the United Nations started to vote on a “two state” plan to partition Palestine that would have permitted an independent Jewish State west of the Jordan River (as well as an independent Arab state also west of the Jordan) in addition to the already existent Arab state (today’s Jordan) east of the Jordan River.  At that time, based upon the pre-voting position of the nations, the conventional wisdom was that the

Partition Plan would fail because it could not muster the 2/3 approval of those that were permitted to vote. 

However, at the 11th hour, France obtained a 24 hour extension of the vote.  During this critical period, somehow a few nations changed their pre-voting positions from a “No,” or Abstention, to a “Yes.” Two of these nations were France and the United States.  Consequently, the UN Partition plan passed with two extra votes.  It should be noted that the British government’s position was to “abstain.” Given the fact that a 2/3 majority was necessary for passage, Britain’s abstention amounted to a “no” vote against Israeli Statehood.

Only as a consequence of the Holocaust sympathy vote, did 2/3 of the United Nations of “this world” sanction the formation of an independent Jewish State in Palestine (the Roman name for the “land of Israel”).  After about 1800 years, the Roman scattering of the Jewish people finally came to its “end” with the resurrection (Ezek. 37:1-14) and establishment of the sovereign State of Israel (Ezek. 37:15-21), with United Nations approval.  2/3 of European Jewry had already dearly paid for the 2/3 UN approval vote.  The Holocaust was the redemption price the Jewish community paid for the resurrection of the State of Israel on April 14, 1948 (Daniel 12:1-4). 

Why the last “king of the north” is not Gog-Russia of Ezekiel 38-9.  There are two very valid reasons. 

The first is that if Russia is the last king of the north, then a correct interpretation of chronological Scriptures demands that Russia must first come to her “end” (11:45) prior to the resurrection and immortalization of the saints – prior to Christ’s Second Advent (12:2-4)!

Most scholars we know, from a correct understanding of the prophetic writings of John Thomas have concluded that the proper and correct interpretation of a vision – a prophecy – is that it be interpreted in a historical and chronological manner. This writer, without going into the reasons why, believes that this principle is indisputably true, and should be followed without exception if one genuinely seeks the correct interpretation of any vision – or prophecy.  

Now if we adhere to the correct rule of continuous chronological interpretation of a vision, and if we follow our traditional method of interpretation of around 160 years, we are faced with an insurmountable contradiction. The conundrum is that Gog-Russia comes to his “end” (11:45), before the resurrection of the “saints” (12:2-4), or its first application (type), the resurrection of the State of Israel in 1948 (12:1-2)!! Gog hadn’t even appeared when that event occurred!

Now … Will Gog-Russia come to his “end” before the resurrection of the saints from the dead (the “shadow” of that earlier”type”)? Do any of our expositors believe that? Does anyone have any reasonable explanation to this interpretive contradiction? If a “contradiction” continues to remain unresolved, this surely means that the original hypothesis is incorrect.

The second is that the last king of the north (Daniel 11: 44. 45) desires to continue the scattering of the Jewish people (12:7).  Contrary to this the nation of Russia in Dec. of 1947, at the United Nations forum, voted in favor of an independent Jewish State, which signified (brought about) the end of the Roman second scattering of Jews.  With respect to the re-establishment of a “Jewish homeland,” the goal of the last king of the north, and the goal of the Russian government in 1947, were complete opposite goals.  Therefore, the two cannot be the same power.

Conclusion: In the opinion of this writer, so far and by far the best interpretation of Daniel’s prophetic dates in 12:5-7 was by James Laird, whose dates rightly concern themselves with the resurrection of the State of Israel in 1947-8 (See Christadelphian Advocate April 1985, p.119).  The reason his interpretation was and continues to be the best, is because James Laird was the earliest scholar living near the “end” of “the scattering of the power of thy holy [Jewish] people,” which occurred in 1948 with the resurrection or establishment of the State of Israel. He understood this process before almost all others.

James Laird’s exposition has at its heart, that from Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian captivity (the beginning of the first “scattering,” when adjustments are made from BC to AD, we have the accumulation of 2520 days of years (“time – 360 days, times – 720 days, and half – 180 days” = 1260 days; “left and right hand,” two 1260 day (year) periods = 2520 years,12:7), ending in 1917.  This same year was coincidentally the “end” of the last king of the north (the Ottoman Empire), who occupied both north and south of Israel and was also completely opposed to Israeli Statehood.  At the same time period, we again, coincidentally have the Belford declaration which promised an independent sovereign State of Israel.  When one then adds the 30 years difference between the 1260 and 1290, we come to 1947, the year that the United Nations passed its Partition Plan lawfully permitting the sovereign State of Israel.

In the opinion of this writer, the best prophetic interpretation of the one-vision that is contained in Daniel 11 & 12, are those interpretations which deal with the end of the scattering, or the re-establishment – the resurrection of the Jewish people as an independent sovereign State. 

The best interpretation of the latter-day 1335 days (Daniel 12:10-13) will similarly come from an association with “the holy people” – The Jewish State of Israel.

                       <Joe Arabia; 2012-4-10; originally written, 2007-11-20>

The eProphecy Letter

March, 2012

Rapidly Changing Alliances All Around Israel

H E Lafferty

 Rapid, deliberately significant changes are occurring in nearly all the powers surrounding Israel, leading steadily toward the alliances we have long perceived for the predicted fulfillment of Endtime prophecies. For some time we have realized that there were certain contrary alliances which needed adjustment and rearrangement in order to bring the loyalties of certain groups into the major, final, working groupings that are foretold by the sages of Israel. The entire Middle East is a roiling, seething, tortuously self-adjusting organism that we behold in wonder as the political, economic, ecclesiastical and militaristic forces of the deftly shifting influences work their wonders on the main players in this incredible drama of the ages.

 We are encouraged in one sense by what we see, and awestruck by other observations. We offer this somewhat ponderous, complex, mid-stream summation of the events as we view them today with only a few selective observations of Bible commentary upon these. These comments are not to be considered exhaustive, as much-extended commentary should be employed to address the entire complex scenario. Indeed, CAN it be fully addressed or completely understood? This information may be more than you ever wanted to know about these troublesome, doomed affairs. However, we believe this intrigue and animosity is paramount to the rapid forward movement of the Almighty’s Plan for the Ages whether we may be “interested” or not.

Hezbollah in Lebanon is maintaining its animosity toward Israel, but is shifting its alliances away from Iran and Lebanon toward Egypt, aligning itself toward the alliances which appear to be the earlier chronological threat to Israel rather than the later aggression, and those among which these peoples are clearly designated by the prophets of Israel. This momentum moves the Edomites of south Lebanon significantly further from its sponsorship by Iran and in closer alliance with the “Palestinian” population among and surrounding Israel (see Obadiah, Isaiah 11 and 63) where they rightly fit.

Hezbollah, as proxy for the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, has just repudiated its support for the Syrian government as well – a move which compromises the alliance of Syria with Iran as these two polities sort themselves into distinct camps. Still, many commentators are worried that Hezbollah will be recipient of much of the arms stockpile of the Assad Regime as its defeat seems to draw nearer. If Syria is indeed defeated by the rebels they will effectively cut the arms supply line that has been traditionally in place between Iran and Hezbollah.

Hamas and the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt is steadily developing more solid unity against Israel. The treaty-governed natural gas supply to Israel from Egyptian wells has been interrupted and is now more fragile and uncertain than ever. The price of Egyptian natural gas has doubled for Israel. The natural gas pipeline has been sabotaged more than a dozen times during the past year – a reflection of the anarchy in the Sinai Peninsula and lack of Egyptian military control over the area since the Egyptian Revolution of a year ago. The Egyptian military government now in place has its plate full with affairs in the heartland and appears almost willing to relinquish its influence over Sinai. We cannot project whether this will continue.

Hamas in the Gaza Strip – a direct offshoot of the MB in Egypt – has now officially abandoned its offices and headquarters in Damascus. Several months ago, Khaleed Mashaal, its leader, concluded that Hamas could no longer support and benefit from the Syrian regime while it is butchering its own people, especially since it is the Syrian Moslem Brotherhood which is struggling to gain control of the revolt against Assad. And especially since that movement has won the approval of Hamas’ “spiritual adviser,” the Quatari-based Sheikh Yussef al-Qardawi and all other branches of the movement.

As a result, several of its leaders have sought and established residence elsewhere: in Egypt and in Jordan as well as in Gaza itself. But no Arab state except far-off Qatar has offered its services as the new headquarters of Hamas. Indeed, Egypt, Jordan and others have definitely said No! This leaves Khaleed Mashaal as no longer the undisputed leader of Hamas – and at loose ends as to a stable location for the movement.

The Palestinian Authority (the PA) is shifting toward greater cooperation with Hamas in Gaza in a lop-sided alliance of a “moderate” PA with a rabidly-terroristic Hamas leadership which vows never to recognize Israel’s right to exist. This is said by some observers to represent a significant distancing of the PA from any potential future negotiations with Israel, but this actually occurred two or three years ago after the Secretary of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen) refused to negotiate with Israel during a period in which Israel reluctantly agreed to cessation of construction in the Eastern precincts of Jerusalem for a short period.

In reality, the PA ALSO will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state with its sovereign rights of existence. Abbas is not a “moderate” enemy of Israel as some say: his doctoral dissertation, studies accomplished in a Soviet university in Moscow, was essentially a political tirade against the Jews of the world. It outrightly denied the Holocaust, claiming an insignificant number of Jews had been killed by Germany and that Hitler’s incineration devices and death camps were not really concerned with the Jewish people!

Abbas, like all Holocaust deniers, claims that the Holocaust sufferings of the Jews is greatly overblown in order to create worldwide sympathy (Exactly WHAT “worldwide sympathy?”) for the Zionist cause and a grossly unfair advantage over the oppressed, put-upon Arabs of the world who must now suffer because of this falsely-based sympathy. If I may say so, the man is an insufferable imbecile; but, then, are not most of the intractable enemies of our Lord and His people?

In Jordan, the natives are restive, creating greater tension within this weak neighbor of Israel, urging aggression against the Jewish state, creating unrest within the kingdom, moving the country closer to rebellion against “king” Abdullah II and his regime. Over 70% of his population is “Palestinian,” always threatening rebellion against him and overthrow of his government. Modern Jordan is Ammon and Moab of Obadiah’s prophecy as well as being featured in the graphic words of Isaiah 11: 14 - But they (Israel) shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west (Gaza); they shall spoil them of the east (Jordan) together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

Saudi Arabia is now patently sharing Israel’s wariness of Iran, and is purchasing billions of dollars in new arms from the U.S., a move which has become a legitimate concern for Israel that its military edge is being eroded significantly as “the kingdom” plans to purchase squadrons of the new F-35 joint strike fighters being produced by Lockheed Martin Aircraft here in Maryland. In addition, the Saudis are now claiming the “right” to atomic weapons if Iran is indeed allowed to develop these; the Saudis have already made overtures to Russia for nuclear assistance (and Russia is always willing and anxious to assist).

The Saudis (who are Sunni Moslems) are acting to bolster the Gulf Emirates (who are also Sunnis) against Iranian (Shiite) aggression in the southern Persian Gulf. In related intrigue, Saudi Arabia has said it will “make up” the deficits in oil production which may result from the Iranian oil embargoes which are to take effect in the summer of 2012. Yet its thousands of miles of oil pipelines on the surface of its desolate sands lie vulnerable to random acts of sabotage from marauding enemies – the desperate Shiite foes of the Sunni monarchy, which the Shia perceive as friends of the West and even of Israel.

Essentially, the now widespread unrest in the Middle East is a palpable by-product of Sunni-Shiite rivalry and intrigue. It is hatred-filled, simmering animosity which has been in progress for centuries. And Israel is its only common, unifying enemy.

Egypt’s control of the Sinai has deteriorated to near anarchy among the numerous armed and militant Salafite gangs. These lawless ones are idealistically related to the Wahabis – the radically Fundamentalistic movement in Saudi Arabia – the realized, proven source of the 9/11 teams of terrorists who destroyed the Twin Towers in New York and damaged the Pentagon in Washington.

Whereas the Egyptian military once held effective control over the Sinai, it does not do so now due to the instability in Cairo. Lawless gangs of smugglers and assassins roam its dunes and wastelands at will, executing their plans without hindrance of law or order, effectively renting their services to those with the loosest purse-strings.

 Hamas in the Gaza Strip is now flooding the Peninsula with arms, with suicide bombers, and with ground to ground missiles with impunity – exporting these through the smuggling tunnels connecting Gaza with the Sinai. Hamas has effectively co-opted the lawless Bedouin of the Sinai to unite with itself in drug smuggling operations, sabotage, and illicit arms operations, attacking Israeli traffic along the Beersheva-Eilat roadway, and even communicating with colleagues in neighboring Jordan in some of these operations.

Turkey is purchasing 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from the U. S., a development which threatens to rival the Israel Air Force capabilities. Turkey is also siding with the Syrian rebels in the south, with the Kurds in the north, and with other splinter groups who are opposed to the repressive Al-Assad regime. Turkey, at odds with Iran, is actively opposing the Syrian regime, even creating security zones in the north for Syria’s oppressed people. Turkey, in withdrawing its support from the Syrian regime, sorts itself more definitively into the Gogian camp. Gomer and Togarmah of East-Central Turkey concludes Turkey’s future partnership in the Gogian affair as a willing ally, not as a polity invaded and conquered by Russia but as a Gogian counterpart.

Turkey’s recent, abrupt animosity and turn against its former friend and ally Israel has been expected by us for a long time and is finally in full bloom. It vilifies and resists Israel in every way, including quarrels over the vast oil and gas deposits recently discovered by Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, and near Cyprus, the island nation recently divided by a Turkish takeover of the northern portion of Cyprus by aggression against its Greek administration to the south. This sudden Turkish turn against Israel has acted to cement much closer ties of Israel with Greece, the long-time foe of Turkey. In addition, Israel has been prompted to form closer ties with Cyprus even to the extent of establishing a military base there to accommodate Israeli aircraft assigned to watch over both Israeli and Cypriot oil and gas interests such as drilling platforms, protecting them from sabotage or other attacks.

The Arab League has withdrawn most of its observers from Syria in the last few days (February, 2012) citing its inability to effect any meaningful change in the civil war which is in progress there. For a while the League seemed ready to “impose” some sort of pacification upon Syria (by what means?) but lately has softened that approach, and even withdrawn many of its observers.

The problem is so immense and complex none of the principal actors have a workable solution to it. In the end, the socio-religious strife and internecine rivalry within Islam has brought this “cup of trembling” upon itself as clearly stated by Isaiah 51: 22 Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand (Israel’s hand) the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: 23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over. Even now, we behold clearly these down-treaders of God’s people now being shredded and murdered by their own hatred and in-fighting. No more shall they say to Jacob, “Bow down that we may go over” and no longer shall Jacob “lay thy body as the ground and as the street to them that (would go) over.”

Syrian rebels, being largely anonymous and leaderless (at least without any prominent leaders), are being considered by the West for arming against Bashar al-Assad, the bloody dictator of Syria, who has been ineffectual in putting down the rebellion against his government. The U. S. has retarded its supply of arms to the rebels so far saying it is not at all sure of the intentions, the real identity or loyalties of the rebels at this stage. Observers say Assad may try to start a war with Israel to take attention off his internal troubles with the rebels, but it is doubtful that he has this capability at this time. Entire sections of his army are now defecting to the rebel cause; most recently a Syrian officer drew away a company of over 200 other officers and men to rebel against their former leader. These groups assist the rebels immensely and help create pockets of safe haven for them with armed resistance against Assad’s remaining forces.

The Alawites – identified with the Assads: the distinct but powerful Shiite minority in Syria – are now struggling for their survival against the mostly Sunni Resistance of the people. Now that the Alawite-Shia are under siege, the families of this party are now said to be fleeing their homes and going into hiding, fearing that vengeful rebels will hunt them down and kill them. The rebels - the Sunni-Muslim branch of Islam – consist of over 70% of the 22 million people of Syria. They are an oppressed majority in that country. [Charlotte McDonald-Gibson, The Independent (UK) February 21, 2012]

Russia is actively supporting the Assad regime in Syria, having become an obvious “guard” to Syria (as well as Iran) specifically (Ezekiel 38: 7). It has established a Russian naval base at Latakia, Syria, and is making a progressive show of its naval force with the arrival of its only aircraft carrier and other smaller ships. Russia continues to supply arms to Syria on a credit basis as Syria’s treasury is becoming rapidly depleted in the present conflict. Vladimir Putin recently announced his plan drastically to modernize the rusting vessels of the Russian navy, replacing aging ships, adding many new capital ships and submarines over the next ten years. He also is anxious to equip the willing nations of Islam with Russia’s latest military equipment as well, adding to Russia’s character as “guard” to these peoples – a small but significant scriptural bookmark which give life and breath to God’s eternal word.

Iran is increasing its bellicosity toward Israel, lately claiming the national right to carry out pre-emptive military strikes against Israel if Iran deems Israel about to attack the Iranian Islamic Republic. Iran is increasing its supply of working nuclear centrifuges in seemingly secure underground facilities and making a bid to bring uranium enrichment to fissile-grade concentration of 90 percent, a process which is relatively easy once the 20 percent level has been achieved.

Iran is making a great show of moving forward on weapons development of several kinds – now claiming to be producing long-range missiles (10,000 km); increasing its naval strength and its reach (even to Syria); initiating new, extensive military exercises which amount to saber-rattling even against U.S. naval forces in and near the Persian Gulf; further threats of closing the Straits of Hormuz; cutting off oil exports to some Western European countries ahead of their imposition of Iranian sanctions; and advances toward nuclear weaponization as well as hardening its numerous nuclear plants.

Iran is strengthening its claims of being the Gulf policeman and arbiter of the oil traffic that passes through the Straits of Hormuz (an international waterway) each day, threatening closure of the Gulf if it even feels itself threatened, even in spite of essentially cutting its own throat in the process. Iran’s oil sales are its major lifeline; it is the source of the vast wealth being expended upon its new thrust into regional dominance such as not seen previously. Iran has twice recently projected its naval “force” through the Suez into the Mediterranean, sending a destroyer and an attending supply ship to visit Syrian ports as token of its rising strength (in its own eyes).

Our view is that Iran seems to be moving more rapidly toward “hot” aggression of Israel than we should expect, and that some significant development will occur which will retard Iran on this present course. A sudden, devastating, conclusive Israeli attack upon Iran seems to be inevitably in the works ... seems to be … and could effectively slow or halt her nuclear ambition. But since the whole country is severely earthquake-prone, one or several earthquakes are also a possibility; earthquakes can be most effective in destroying especially underground facilities – the present course which is being pursued by Iran.

A temporary setback or failure of Iran’s present Islamic government might also be a possibility except that even given the present animosity between the ayatollahs and the president, its resolve seems to have attained a new high, its strength not seeming to have been weakened significantly. The West let pass a seemingly excellent opportunity to effect a regime change in Iran two years ago during the Iranian popular uprising in which the Ayatollahs exerted repressive actions which effectively shut down all popular opposition to the present fanatical rulers. But the wave passed without decisive action – doubtless as destiny would have it all along.

Israel more and more feels resigned to the decision that it will have no other choice than a pre-emptive strike against the Iranian Islamic Republic – a despotic rogue state – the leaders of which believe its role is destined to create the Chaos into which its “religious” leaders believe will suddenly arrive the Islamic would-be Saviour/Messiah, the Twelfth Imam, who long ago disappeared into a well but who is eminently expected by them to re-emerge and exert the power of Allah on the entire world! It is amazing to us that the remainder of the world does not exercise its common-sense and recognize and reject the inherent, wholesale, fabricated, pretensive, unrestrained plagiarism of Bible teaching by Mohammed “the prophet” of Islam!

On this basis, Israel is being psychologically and militarily threatened, resulting in its openly discussing its options of physical attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities. In late February the Israeli government made clear to the American Administration its intention to maintain its secrecy from America of any impending assault upon Iran, evidently fearing that a “leak” in the American kettle could put out the fire.

Meanwhile an important, new missile has successfully been tested by Israel during its recent military exercises with Italy. It is the Jericho III, an ICBM capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. A current IDF report suggests that this missile would be ideal for delivering a devastating blow to Iran without killing perhaps one person – an Electronic Magnetic Pulse (EMP) generated from the stratosphere over the Teheran region giving “…  Israel a credible Electronic Magnetic Pulse (EMP) capability to loft a low-kiloton-yield warhead to an apogee over Iran that upon detonation would destroy the country's industrial infrastructure, frying motherboards of hundreds of thousands of computers, disabling telecommunications, transportation and industrial systems, according to a dispatch via Daily Alert. It would entirely neutralize everything electronic in central Iran, sending that society back into the 12th century in a hurry! No further nuclear centrifugation; no automotive or bus transport for the foreseeable future; no computerized automation or other activity; no further ICBM research; no further nuclear production of any sort; a complete halt to industrial production of every kind. So much for “nuclear capability!” And so much for “civilization” in Iran! And all this militating strongly toward the position of “beggar (?)” that we see Iran to adopt in its submissive alliance with the military forces of Gog as depicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39.

Meanwhile, the economy of Israel is racing ahead of many European countries with unique and significant advances in technology and medicine. The Technion, Israel’s most advanced facility for scientific and mathematical research has been the source of numerous significant advances in the realms of technology and pure science. It is and has been producer of many Nobel laureates since its establishment several decades ago.

Finally, as summary – and independent confirmation – to the remarks offered here, I append this current article now appearing in FLAME (Facts and Logic About the Middle East), used with tacit permission to circulate widely:

Good News from the Middle East

Israel’s Prospects Have Never Been Brighter

FLAME,  February, 2012

What are the facts?

A robust and growing economy. The standard of living and the GDP (Gross Domestic Product per capita) of Israel are on the level of most European countries and ahead of quite a few. Israel is a fount of accomplishment and innovation. Almost all major U.S. high-tech companies, such as Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Cisco, Oracle, and many others, have established production and research facilities in Israel. None other than Warren Buffett (and he certainly knows where to put his money) has just recently placed a multi-billion dollar investment in Israel. Next only to Canada, Israel has the largest number of companies listed on American stock exchanges.

One of the important reasons for Israel’s economic success is the high level of education of its population, of which Israel’s world-class universities and its Technion (the fount of Nobel Prize winners) are the driving force.

A cohesive society. Israel, a country of immigrants, has a cohesive society cemented by its common faith and by the miraculously resuscitated Hebrew language. The bulk of its population [is] descendants of immigrants from Middle Eastern countries – all the way from Morocco to Iraq and Iran. Over a million Russian “olim” (those who have “ascended” to Israel), most of them highly educated, are now also an important segment of the populace.

The Israeli Arabs (about one-fifth of the population) are not yet fully integrated. But even they are becoming a full part of Israeli society, while maintaining their culture and their different beliefs. Another segment that is not yet fully absorbed are the immigrants from Ethiopia, because they come essentially from a medieval culture and have still some difficulty in integrating into a modern high-tech society. Finally, the “haredim” (the ultra-orthodox) are still not fully accepting the essentially secular nature of Israel’s society.

In contrast to all other Middle Eastern countries, women play a full role in Israel. The Chief Justice of Israel’s Supreme Court is a woman. Women pilots fly the fighter planes of the IAF. Women are prominently represented in the Knesset (Israel’s parliament). A woman (Golda Meir) has been prime minister of her country. The fact that women occupy high-level leadership roles both in business and in government is a reflection of the egalitarian nature of Israeli society.

Militarily, Israel is in an excellent position. There is much speculation that Egypt, with its new military leadership, might abrogate its peace treaty with Israel. But the Egyptian military are realists, however much they may rattle their sabers. There is no way that they will doom themselves by attacking an overwhelmingly powerful Israel. Syria is in total disarray and no threat to Israel for the foreseeable future. The only real threat – and it is a serious one – is Iran in its quest for a nuclear weapon. One hopes that it can be stopped by sanctions or, if necessary, even by military means. But if it could indeed produce a nuclear weapon and would launch it against Israel, chances are excellent that Israel’s advanced missile defense shield would abort it. But even the obsessed ayatollahs realize that Israel’s response to such an attack, whether or not successful, would be overwhelming and would inevitably devastate their country and decimate its population.

Energy resources of Israel, the best news of all. Energy has always been the weak link in Israel’s economy. Virtually all of its hydrocarbons have to be imported. Most of its natural gas comes from Egypt, a most unreliable supplier. But here is perhaps the best news of all: Gigantic gas fields, containing trillions of cubic feet, accompanied by a substantial amount of oil, have been discovered off Israel’s coast. These fields will begin to be exploited in 2013 and will, in one swoop, make Israel not only energy independent, but a major exporter. It will bring billions of dollars in yearly revenue. Wags have said mockingly that Moses took the children of Israel 40 years through the desert to bring them to the only place without oil. Well, the wags were wrong and Moses was right.

The outlook for Israel is excellent. Its economy is in prime condition and growing from month to month. Its society, composed of many disparate elements, is thriving and cohesive. It is prosperous, strong and secure. It has now been blessed with an abundance of mineral wealth, soon to be exploited. Israelis have been outstandingly successful so far – what with all the wars and having absorbed millions of immigrants. Just think of its wonderful future, with all the wealth of natural gas and oil soon falling into its coffers. Yes, Israel’s future has never been brighter.   [End of FLAME article]

The overlying significance of the above article is that it really does not address the most important prospect that Israel and its citizens are facing – ready or not! We cannot reasonably expect the authors of FLAME to recognize or accept the supremely supernatural benefits soon to be expected by Israel, far exceeding any temporal blessings or advantage it may now exhibit.

That Benefit shall be the appearance of its only Benefactor, its Messiah, unexpectedly arriving on the scene to deliver Israel from the incessant threats and boasts against it and its survival – and the elevation of this nascent society (yet ancient in source), then renewed and reconstituted, to the premier position among the nations of the earth in fulfillment of the Promises made to Abraham and his Seed.

This spectacular and completely unexpected occurrence will electrify and energize the entire world for a short while against God and His plan, but its resistance shall be to no avail, and shall end extremely well.

The prophet Micah has summarized it in these words:

Micah 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.       <HEL  MD/USA   February 2012>

The Prophecy Letter

February, 2012

When Christ Comes, What is the Order of Events?

H E Lafferty

Devotees to God’s word have been aware for several years that we are extremely near the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. The primary visible signal of this proximity was the landmark event of Israeli Statehood, achieved in May, 1948. We look upon this event as the “sign of the Son of Man in heaven” as revealed in Matthew 24:30: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

On the grand scale of the Endtime prophecies, these two events are tightly compressed in this statement; to our simple, rather pedestrian  and experiential view of things they are obviously separated from each other by years. The “sign” appears first in the political heavens (Israel’s establishment among the nations), then some years later, they “see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” As sure as the SIGN appeared, so shall the SON OF MAN also appear later; but we must allow time for that to happen in our Father’s own good time.

It must be evident to all that the perfect or sure order of these events cannot invariably be established with a confident degree of certainty; on the other hand, it is evident that some must precede others, e.g., the resurrection of the dead must occur prior to the Judgment Seat of Christ; and Christ’s sacred Land must be cleared of the violent aggressors of His people before the establishment of His kingdom can exist in peace and safety as it shall.

So please pursue the following considerations with this realization in mind. In a real sense, the development of all these is being brought forward simultaneously; just as in pre-Adventual history, events progress concurrently with each other. Scriptural references to support the views expressed have been inserted appropriately

Ø  So … soon CHRIST COMES back to the earth in His Second Advent. No man knows the day or the hour of His appearance (Matthew 25: 13). At the same time we can discern the general signs of the times. Believers have been expecting His appearance for decades because of the unique circumstances commented upon above.

Ø  The Angel Gabriel sounds the LAST TRUMP (the Great Shofar of Assembly); the multitudes of the dead in Christ are RAISED from their memorial graves where they have been dormant and “asleep” until Gabriel sounds his trumpet blast. I believe they are regarded by the Spirit as “asleep”because their later awakening from death in the coming resurrection is certain. All the others do NOT “sleep,” as their destiny is perpetual oblivion, with no resurrection in their future. The simple truth of this expectation of even the great ones (rulers) of the earth having perished is well phrased by the words of Isaiah 26:13 O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. 14 They are dead, they shall not live (again); they are deceased, they shall not rise (in the resurrection): therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. You must surely realize that to perish is to CEASE to exist – anywhere … or to continue on in any state. These  "great ones" have been assigned irreversibly to “hell” – to Sheol – which is the pit of death and darkness in contradistinction to a lake of literal fire which is, however, a fitting metaphor for total destruction, as in Revelation 19: 20; 20: 10, 14, 15, where we see even “death and hell” cast into the lake of fire in a poetic figure, meaning that these deleterious elements themselves are completely destroyed, and in league with the human occupants of Sheol shall no longer continue. Afterward there IS no more death, and clearly therefore signifies that no future inhabitants shall ever again be consigned to the grave (hell); because there shall be  no death!

Ø  The resurrected numbers of covenanted People are very great – and they emerge  from their graves into current society from all ages and all societies of all past ages, but do not mingle with that society until they are admitted to it by the Master.  

Ø  The angels GATHER TOGETHER the living believers in Christ – doubtless a far smaller number of people than those of all earlier ages who are to be resurrected, and along with those subjects of the resurrection, transport them to a secret place of judgment, as in I Thessalonians 4: 14 – 17: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air (in the atmosphere of the earth): and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

This event is similar to the ‘rapture’ which is the conviction of the people of popular Christendom and is the prime source of their mistaken conviction that all “Christians” are to be raised from the dead, and with all living believers will be transported to heaven – far, far beyond the “clouds” which obviously is an erroneous conception. We are extremely confident that intelligent correlation with many other scriptures shows this verse’s clear meaning to be that myriads (clouds) of the redeemed will be gathered to Him in a ruling capacity upon the EARTH and in its “air” (or atmosphere) – for the eternal Promises to the Redeemed consist not of an eternal habitation in heaven itself at all, but on the EARTH forever, fulfilling the original promises God made to Abraham and his Seed (Genesis 12, 14, Galatians 3, etc.).  Also much ancillary information is revealed in I Corinthians 15: 15 et seq., where Paul reasons and explains the resurrection process and his expectation of the Saints’ earthly inheritance under the Christ. Habakkuk 2: 14 expresses the same principle and is mirrored in four other occurrences of almost exactly the same phrases: the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Ø  He JUDGES His household (his followers) according to those things done in the flesh, whether good or evil, (Ecclesiastes 12: 14; 2 Corinthians 5: 10, q.v.) rewarding a large ACCEPTED multitude with immortality.

Ø  The unfaithful believers are REJECTED and turned aside from His presence. These weep and gnash their teeth, lamenting their failure to achieve immortality. I Corinthians 15: 53-55; see also Luke 13: 27 But he shall say, ‘I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. 28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.’  This clear statement in itself is concrete evidence of the location of the Kingdom and the inheritance of the Saints. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was THE LAND of ISRAEL at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea; it was to be awarded to them in perpetuity – a sacred tract of land stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf (Indian Ocean?).

Ø  Those who are to be turned aside are ruined. Their lives have been essentially wasted; it is better for them if they had never been born, as is said of Judas who betrayed Christ (Mark 14: 21). The edict of Matthew 7: 23 to those on His left hand pronounces and seals their fate: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Ø    He joins joyfully and eternally with the faithful, now immortalized Saints, in THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB.  Revelation 19: 6-9; 22: 12. The location of this event is not revealed, but the account is compelling … cf.Jesus’ account of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19: 9.

Ø  In so doing, Christ fulfills in each individual Saint that precious promise to Abraham that his descendants (his SEED) shall be as the sand of the seashore and as the stars of heaven – an innumerable company of powerful, now newly deathless earth-borns of all tongues, people, and ages since Adam who have been preserved in their Memorial Graves, sleeping there for eons, safely and silently in the dust of the earth in every clime of His creation, awaiting this memorable day of liberation into the atmosphere and into new life. The fortunate ones enjoy a later elevation (after His judgment) from mortality (certainty of death) to immortality (certainty of eternal life).

Ø  He then brings THE FAITHFUL with Himself to confront the nations with their own doctrines and practices – to deliver Israel from their threatening enemies round about as in Habakkuk 3, Isaiah 11 and 63 – on the way to Jerusalem. Micah 4: 13 – ‘Arise and thresh!’ He shall CONQUER, with the assistance of the Saints (Psalm 149: 6 – 9) all Israel’s ENEMIES that remain round about them and within Israel. Ezekiel 35: 12, 14; Obadiah; Micah 5; Psalm 83 and 102; Zechariah 10 - 14; Joel 3; Isaiah 34, all of which please see.

Ø  Details of THESE CONFLICTS are abundant and involve the ‘nations round about:’ Zechariah 14: 2, and all those who have fought against Jerusalem, Zechariah 14: 12; …. These nations are NOT all the nations of the world! In Isaiah 34 and in scores of other references, the same terminology is used of the Proximal Arabs … ALL the aggressor nations (but ONLY those aggressors) of the Jewish State up to that time. Otherwise – if His meaning was indeed ALL nations – His destruction should spread to the ends of the earth, thus aborting His own plan to teach the nations righteousness and peace during the Millennium.

Ø  It is in the above actions that He gathers to Himself and to His kingdom of Israel THE WEALTH OF THE GENTILES – those SAME Gentiles (Zechariah 14: 14; Isaiah 60: 4 – 7), as well as many other commodities and benefits!) – including their lands, their properties, their bank accounts, their goods and chattels, their minerals and oil wealth – and incorporates them into Greater Israel, bringing to fruition the Land Promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David – increasing His inheritance to full measure, from the Nile to the Euphrates (Psalm 72: 8; Zechariah 9: 10) and from the  Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.  … they shall suck the milk of Gentiles … and shall know that I the Lord am thy Savior and Redeemer … Isaiah 60: 16; also Isaiah 66: 11. This is a truth that is affirmed here and many times later – reinforcing their now enlightened, firm faith in Him as Messiah.

Ø  When the battles are finished the Jews inquire diligently as to HIS IDENTITY… the personage of their Redeemer, Whom they have not recognized to this point in their wildly pitched battles with the opposing Edomites and others. But They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12: 10) and behold the nail prints in His hands (Zechariah 13: 6), and realize their grave error of having condemned and crucified Him in AD 29, after which His people shall immerse themselves in a great, heartfelt, sincere mourning of repentance – Zechariah 12: 10 – 14 and Zechariah 13 and 14.

Ø  As a result of their genuine repentance, having seen Him come in the name of the Lord of Hosts, they are immediately blessed by Him. He had told them definitively in Luke 13: 35 - Ye shall not see Me until the time come when ye shall say, ‘Blessed is He That cometh in the name of the Lord.You see, He actually had spoken extensive and intensive condemnation upon His people for their refusal to accept Him, telling them that they never would throughout the coming centuries be able to perceive His real identity, nor accept His work as their Savior until His stipulations were accomplished! But … now His People of Israel give Him their undivided loyalty and genuine,heartfelt (literally!) affection; they are anxious to do His bidding, to fulfill His assigned duties, to start to become a light unto the Gentiles (Isaiah 42: 6). In response He places within their breasts hearts of flesh, replacing their stony hearts of unbelief – and writes upon it His Spirit in the clearly defined act of natural redemption of His people.

Ø  Ezekiel 11: 19 and Ezekiel 36: 26 – 28 both attest to this unique and benevolent response of their Savior, the latter of which says, Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. It is again made positively clear the Jews’ defined destiny as His consecrated People of the kingdom age – still mortal, living their lives in service to Him presumably until their natural deaths. We are assured that these who faithfully live out their mortal lives shall later be raised from the dead and given immortality in accordance with their faithfulness.

Ø  During this time the Returned Christ proclaims Himself to them and to the world at large, that He is indeed KING OF ISRAEL, abruptly and completely reversing the State’s original republican composition, surely triggering the disdain, the scorn and the derision of the democracies of the earth. Their devotion to their democratically determined way of life illustrates well their immersion in ‘the three unclean spirits’ proceeding out of the mouth of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet, prompting their total rejection of Christ’s proclamation, and bringing further scorn upon His germinal (mustard seed) kingdom.  Micah 4: 2; Psalm 83.

Ø  So what is His and their reaction? They are infuriated, but He cares not; nor do the Israelis care, as the greatest percentage of them have wholeheartedly accepted Him and recognized His Office. We are not apprised as to whether all the people accept Him as Messiah at the same time; or whether, if some do not accept Him immediately, He will allow them some time for self-examination and review of the Word which clearly foretells Him – principles which shall be effectively taught them by the Redeemed in their midst, and by their King. These enjoy the first stages of their redemption and readily accept whatever their King proclaims to them! Some rebels among His people perhaps remain to be rooted out in the days ahead. We are not instructed as to His method for accomplishing this task.

Ø  He PROCLAIMS THE KINGDOM in Zion and TO Zion; but the world (except Israel) is deaf to His claims. They repudiate His claims out of hand, having no inkling of His true identity. “Christians” will doubtless immediately proclaim Him as The Antichrist of their apostate theology; pagans will have no part of Him not remotely suspecting His authority, regency, or His future plans.

Ø   All the evidence indicates that yet other enemies now gather to resist His kingdom, e.g., the Gogian host of Ezekiel 38 and 39. The UNO will quickly issue sanctions against this new “king” in Israel. The West will be frothing at the mouth with rage at such audacity of their former compatriots. The remaining petroleum-rich Islamic states further afield will immediately begin to prepare for another attack upon Israel in revenge for the colossal victory just won by Christ, the Saints and the IDF!

Ø  Also the Beast and the False Prophet headquartered in Roman Europe but reaching to the furthest extent of the papal realms of commerce, will have been given pause, and begin their preparation to resist Israel with economic and political sanctions, boycotts and other protective means, for they now perceive possible threats to their commercial advantage, and even their traffic in human souls, because of the sudden influx of souls into the Middle East (the huge numbers of Israelites remaining in the world today but being then brought to their eternal homeland).  Conflict shall ensue. That extended conflict is related in Apocalypse 18 – 20, leading into the halcyon days of the proclamation of His kingdom in the vast Mideast and West, including the Americas without doubt – a fortress of Catholic authority and dominion among men.

Ø  And, yes, threats become apparent to mankind in the ‘free’ world, and these perceive threats to their embedded liberty and equality and democratic ideals (selfishness and jealousy of “their rights and privileges” of self-determination as peoples). These reach outward with the momentum of a huge tsunami to the nations of the world: Psalm 2 is one reference to their self-willed resistance to Him.

Ø  He begins healing the wreckage of the great earthquake which comes when His feet touched the Mount of Olives and altered the topography of the Land. Perhaps He takes this great human displacement as His opportunity to reapportion ownership of the Land itself, dividing it into the cantons described in Ezekiel 40 – 48.

Ø  In proclaiming Himself King, He initiates KINGDOM OPERATIONS in Zion. getting to the detailed affairs of His administration and the infrastructure of the new State.

Ø  He shall ESTABLISH HIS THRONE in Jerusalem. Micah 4:4; Psalm 72: 8 – 15; and proclaim Himself King of Israel publicly, thus confirming another action that all those expect who already believe He is really their supposed Antichrist.

Ø  He immediately moves to bring His people back to their land. He GATHERS ALL ISRAEL (including the Ten Tribes) to Zion progressively from this point: as His people arrive in the Land, He shall appoint each family to its eternal inheritance, Tribe by Tribe, setting over each Tribe one of the Apostles, as He promised in Luke 22: 30.

Ø   Deuteronomy 30: 3. Isaiah 27: 12 seems to indicate that at least the first portion of the return was always destined to be gradual, building on the original trickle of immigration – the serial Aliyahs we have witnessed for over an hundred years. By far the greatest portion of His people remain at this time in Diaspora, ready now to be delivered to the land of peace and safety observed in Israel. These are perhaps a minor portion of Judah and Benjamin (the Two Tribes) and the great majority of the Ten Tribes of Israel. 

Ø  At some indeterminate time during these operations He CONVERTS EGYPT as part of these End time activities after demonstrating His power in saving them from their ‘oppressors’ [The Moslem Brotherhood (?), the spawn-er of Hamas of our day, and troublemaker extraordinaire, which Egypt has been trying to suppress for many years but which is even today greatly increasing in strength]: Isaiah 19: 16-21; Zechariah 10: 11. We are told little of this operation, but we can be sure Christ is not defeating the Gogian Host in Egypt as some in the past (and present!) have claimed. The Gogian host instead has been stopped DEAD in its tracks east of Galilee and their stone cold corpses are being consumed by the beasts of the field and the birds of the air of that age (Ezekiel 39: 4, 5) even as they are also buried by the citizens of Israel at Hamon-gog.

Ø  He conquers and PACIFIES ASSYRIA, making them a third with Egypt and Israel – these accounts being surely related in passages such as Isaiah 19: 16-21; Micah 5; Zechariah 10: 11.

Ø  He shall put a NEW HEART AND A NEW SPIRIT within His re-gathered People:  I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.  Ezekiel 36: 26 – 27; Zechariah 12: 9 - 11.

Ø  He shall then PURGE OUT THE REBELS from His people, for there appears to be some who are not able or faithful enough to accept Him at face value. Those unfaithful ones are turned out of His kingdom. Those left are described in Zephaniah 3: 12 – I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. Zephaniah (the meaning of his name is “he whom Yahweh hath hidden”) excoriates the unfaithfulness of Israel in chapters 1 and 2, and forecasts the historical Babylonian captivity then still ahead of them. Then he pronounces the final solution upon their race in chapter 3:19 – leaping over the Babylonian return and their second scattering by Rome in 70 AD and 135 AD into all nations – giving the details of their final in-gathering! - that spoken of in Isaiah 11.  

Ø  He shall REMOVE THE CURSE OF THE EARTH as reflected in words such as those in Psalm 72: 16 – 19. As His kingdom progresses, Edenic conditions return in widespread climatic change; the friendly nations receive abundant rainfall and blessings of flock and herd. In addition, the human fertility rate shall be markedly increased so that Israel, especially, brings forth abundant children – offspring to replace those whom the People have lost in their incessant attrition at the hand of the nations. Isaiah 49 is a remarkably poignant testament to this restoration of Israel en toto; indeed, the latest reports from Israel in late 2011 acknowledge Israeli women now to have one of the highest fertility rates in the Western World. Isaiah 49 refers to this time, q.v., and the poignant account foretold in Isaiah 49:19: For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy (former) destruction, shall even now (at that time) be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. 20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. 21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost [in the Holocaust, and at other times] my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? 22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. 23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

Ø  In these passages we see additional evidence that ISLAM SHALL HAVE SUFFERED fatally!! Their pagan beliefs shall have been overthrown and trampled. Ezekiel 49: 17-19 addresses the childrens interaction with the oppressors round about; verse 18 indicates that Israel shall take all the good things left by the heathen and use them for their own purposes. Their possessions shall adorn Israel as a bride! The subservience of the foreign kings to them is indicated in verses 23 – 26 as referenced above.

Ø  But, to reiterate: in verses 19 – 22 and 25, the Revelator reassures His people of ample space for their habitation, of the overwhelming numbers of their brethren who shall be brought back to their expanded Land, and that their children shall now be born in abundance – all to the glory of God’s holy name.

Ø   Agreeing completely with these prophecies, we see the complete obliteration of the “Palestinians” reflected in the terse words of Obadiah, who indicates that there shall none remain of the house of Esau which, judging by their areas of habitation (the five areas recorded there as being conquered by Israel) are those regions now inhabited by those we recognize as being the modern-day “Palestinians” – those who are even now murdering and oppressing the little ones of Israel – the civil population: these are not the recognized name of any extant race of people but are clearly recognizable from their modern day location! Newt Gingrich, a U. S. politician recently made sensational headlines by referring to the “Palestinians” as a MANUFACTURED people which have never existed in history, indicating that the title is a pseudonym for “Arab.” And he is correct.

Ø  He shall build THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE of Ezekiel 40 – 48, and install in it His GLORY (Himself). His glory [Shekinah personified!] returns to His ‘house’ in Jerusalem, site of Zion’s Millennial Temple (see Isaiah 43: 4,  5); also Haggai 2: 7 - 9, which connects the Glory to “the Desire of all nations” Who we believe to be Christ.

Ø  He shall bring (real) PEACE to Israel and the nations round about by proclaiming His PEACE to the world. He is not deterred by the refusal of many who will not accept His edicts: Psalm 2; Habakkuk 2:14, et al.

Ø  He shall display POWER AND AUTHORITY THAT THE WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN; but his operations appear at first to be more local than international – in the “first dominion” of His kingdom … the “mustard seed” (beginning, small) stage of His eternal kingdom. Micah 4: 2.

Ø  He shall immediately DISARM Israel, His people. Cf. Micah 5:9-15; Zechariah 9: 10. His weapons of warfare, used to subdue the heathen, are His spoken words! Only His command is necessary to wreak havoc among His enemies and destroy them. Revelation 19:15: And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, and with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron; and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. The effectiveness of that incredibly deadly weapon is seen in the following verses; the angel invites the fowls to gather for the supper of the Great God, to eat the flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, horses and their riders, and of all men free and bond, small and great!! (verses 7, 18) – activities which are parallel to Deuteronomy 32: 41 – 43; Ezekiel 39: 9 – 27; and other references, such as Hebrews 4:12; Isaiah 11:4.With the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked! There is also extension of that Power to all the Immortal Saints as well, for Psalm 149 tells us, Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance upon the nations, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the JUDGMENTS WRITTEN; THIS HONOR HAVE ALL THE SAINTS. This is another logical reason why it is my personal conviction that the Assistants present with the Christ in His battles with the nations round about ARE THE SAINTS, not the angels, as some believe.

Ø  He shall form a NEW COVENANT with Israel, which shall be salvation through Christ, the clear teaching of the Last Supper – thus bringing them out of the Mosaic Covenant and into the Abrahamic Covenant – following their recognition of His person and identity. In my main study Bible I have pasted a Post It note on Zechariah 10: 4 (in The Companion Bible) listing several references … Jeremiah 31: 31-34; 32: 40; 33: 20, 21; Ezekiel 37: 26; 34: 25, 26; Joel 2: 21-27; Ezekiel 16: 62; Zechariah 9: 11; 10: 10; Isaiah 42: 6, 7; 49: 19, 20; 55: 3; Ezekiel 11: 17 - 20; Psalm 89, esp. verses 1 - 3 [the psalm treats of the Davidic Covenant, the actual identity of this new covenant with them]. See also Hebrews 10: 16, 17. Romans 11: 25 – 27, which actually define the covenant in great and clear detail!

Ø  All this activity puts the world on warning – especially the ‘Christian’ world – as He shall fulfill all the requirements which they have fantasized as the role of ‘THE ANTI-CHRIST’ of their manufactured theology. Their resistance to Him and His testimonies shall grow increasingly bitter and more adamant, for this new ‘king’ in Israel has not ‘raptured’ them to heaven nor even addressed their persons, their representatives, nor their polities directly. Since He has not acted to remove them from the world to heaven they reason that He MUST be The Anti-Christ!  

Ø  The “religious” world shall be livid with rage and indignation. They consort with the acknowledged worldly (key word: worldly) leader of “religion” at Vatican City. Since the Church’s beliefs about the Second Coming of Christ have been grossly corrupted over the ages, the pope actually knows and understands little about what has really lately occurred. He doubtless will revert to the long-standing teachings of Francisco Ribera and Ignatius Loyola, the priest-leaders and founders of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) who long ago posited that the Antichrist would be a future entity quite removed from papal implications, and would arise in the latter days to save the Jews from their enemies and declare himself their king, rebuild their Temple, and in three and a half years install a statue of himself in that edifice and demand their worship, which they would decline.  A terrible final retribution would then fall upon the Jews but Jesus would come and save them from the Antichrist –something along those lines as interpretations differ among the sects of Christianity! It is significant that all the Protestant “daughters” of the Harlot power have swallowed this doctrine hook, line and sinker, and spout it from the world’s TV centers every day.

Ø  The leaders of the Beast nations of that future time shall be confronted with the real Jesus’ tender to them of “the everlasting Gospel” – a body of facts with which they and their papal leader are not at all familiar – demanding their capitulation to His laws and leadership, and defining the laws of this new king in Jerusalem as the now valid statutes of all mankind. They will by no means accept this edict graciously, but regard it as infringement upon their own sovereignty.

Ø    Consulting with their papal nuncios of each country they will be advised to resist with all their powers – not a wise notion – and to amass their military might to express that resistance. Their advice surely shall be that this upstart of the East is the long-expected Antichrist, and that He is to be rebutted with all their might. It is outside the purview of this present study to examine those events in much detail beyond what has been said. The amount of time between the Gogian overthrow and the European affair with the Beast nations – which is the manifestation of the Image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of Daniel two “standing on his feet” – is impossible to project at this time. The chief account of this confrontation is found in Revelation 17 and 18.  In those chapters are listed all the markers and identifiers that any intelligent student of God’s word needs to make positive identification of the Harlot  and the Beast here portrayed in consort with each other in a trading relationship which at that time shall evidently be well developed and dominant in the earth.

Ø  Meanwhile, the returned Christ shall conduct the business of His First Dominion WITHOUT CONSIDERING WORLD ACQUIESCENCE or opinion [such as from the UNO, NATO, SEATO, CIS, the European Union, the Pope, etc.] and shall go forward with setting up the vast, permanent infrastructure of His kingdom.

Ø  Meanwhile, and evidently prior to the European affair reviewed above, THE FURY OF GOG OF THE LAND OF MAGOG is fanned into a flame, and the Islamic sensitivity and indignation of Persia, Cush, Libya, and Gog’s other partners (all Islamic!) grow mightily. A worldwide conspiracy against Israel and its new King grows apace in the remaining powers of Islam which are named as being confederates of Gog.

Ø  We visualize the Gogian affair as being instigated by the Islamic countries named as her confederates (all are Muslim except Russia – even Magog);  we suspect that the ‘hooks’ in Russia’s jaws, which bring her down upon Israel, are the PETRODOLLARS available to be GIVEN HER as a bribe BY the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Sharia state of Libya, the terrorist State of Ethiopia/Sudan (KUWSH), the two former of which are awash in the monetary rewards of continents of petroleum and having sold it to the world for decades) – Ezekiel 38, 39.

Ø  Gog is stated to be attracted to Israel by “a spoil and a prey,” this cannot be solely the payday offered by the Distal Islamic States who effectively bribe Russia to do the dirty work that they cannot do alone. I suggest it is the wealth of the Gentiles which has been sumptuously gathered into Greater Israel during the earlier Proximal Islamic conflicts – the oil wealth and lands of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the oil Emirates, and the monetary treasuries of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Golda Meir, premier of Israel, is famous for having said, “The only thing I have against Moses is, he brought us to a dry hole!” – meaning to a land devoid of oil wealth. However, as we are now fully aware, Israel is lately NOT an oil and gas destitute country! Late drilling activities and further surveys reveal that Israel could easily become a huge oil and gas producer not only from both liquid crude oil and high pressure natural gas reservoirs, but also from an abundance of oil shale deposits. In the Valley of Sorek (remember Samson?) lies a deposit of oil shale estimated to be the equivalent to all the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. Until recently the means of extraction of oil from such shale was expensive, environmentally unfriendly, and required vast quantities of water, all being factors which limited interest in such oil shales by the oil men of the world, especially in arid Israel. Now we have been informed that Dr. Harold Vinegar, former head of research for Royal Dutch Shell, has come to Israel with a newly patented technique for extraction of oil from Israel’s huge deposits of shale. His method involves highly precise drilling downward, then drilling horizontally in the shale formations; inserting heating elements into the shafts, heating the shales to a high temperature (causing the oil to seep out in abundance as high quality liquid crude oil) and be recoverable at a price comparable to drilling in near-surface crude oil pools. No fracturing (“fracking”) of the rock is involved which often causes leakage of oil into ground water aquifers.  And in addition, the process does not require water but instead PRODUCES water as a by-product.And still further, the process is extremely safe and environmentally friendly. The BOTTOM LINE is that these newly discovered oil deposits and Israel’s giant discoveries of natural gas in the adjacent Mediterranean Sea, could make Gog’s efforts to grab this “spoil” seem worth the trouble; the Arabs just might promise these spoils to Gog for his leadership and participation in that conflict. At the moment these factors seem to be the most likely “hooks” that will cause Gog to attempt its conquest of Israel.

Ø  But contrary to his well-laid plans, Gog and his host shall have no success at all in their adventure, and are absolutely obliterated ‘on the mountains of Israel’ (Ezekiel 39) and are buried at Hamon-gog – a valley ‘east of the sea’ of Galilee (Young). To Gog, her Jewish ‘prey’ appears to be unarmed and vulnerable at this time, dwelling without bars or gates, an innocent people with a naïve King who dwells with them in their apparently false confidence (betach; Hebrew) and seemingly indifferent to any threat that Gog or any others may offer. They are not yet aware of the lethal breath of His lips!

Ø  Note that Israel is at that time markedly different from today’s Israel, which today is an heavily armed and fortified country by any standard, and ready to defend itself with arms and armor and citizen soldiers. Its demeanor at that future time is outwardly peaceful, self-contained, self-interested, with no repugnant foreign policies (not yet!) and seems to Gog to have reverted to a more primitive society with peace on its mind, principally. And that is so.

Ø  To the war-planners of the Gogian nations, Israel looks like a hanging summer fruit, a plum ripe for the picking, due to the “amateurish, naïve and foolish” precipitous disarmament of the Jewish State which the Stealth King has accomplished. They have no inkling as to what lies in wait for them upon the mountains of Israel!

Ø  Yet, at this future time, Christ the King defends His completely unarmed people with the Word of His Mouth, speaking peace (really their pacification by total victory over them!) by uttering his Thunderous Voice against them, calling down upon them the terror of the heavens – causing the enemies’ swords to be turned on each other, but also with huge displays of lightning, fire, smoke and thunder, great hail and brimstone, and an overpowering rain, gaining complete and instantaneous victory over the heathen, and keeping His people absolutely safe all the while! Indeed, in the finality, after the smoke and din of battle has subsided, it is the inhabitants of the villages of Israel who almost serenely (and thankfully, of course!) come forth and begin to bury the multitudes of the Northern Host at Hamon-gog. So it is more than obvious that Israel is virtually untouched by the threat of the Gogian hordes, and shall be victorious over them through the invincibility of their King!

Ø  We can learn many details of the fate of Gog and abolish mountains of ignorance and misapplication of many, if we pay diligent attention to the text of Ezekiel 39, and restrain ourselves from importing chapter after chapter of spurious, supposedly ‘related’ information about the affair. If any other reference presumptively applied to this narrative is incongruent with the outcome plainly stated there, then the application is erroneous; discard it post haste.  Any additional conjectures or suppositions as to the success of Gog’s forces MUST conform to the context of this clearly stated account, which decidedly indicates the utter defeat of Gog and its forces before they are allowed to enter the sacred home grounds of Christ and the Saints and of Israel. After the Gogian affair, or perhaps just prior to it, Christ sends forth the Everlasting Gospel, which will have tremendous repercussions in Europe and among the people of the Harlot and the Beast. But these are subjects intended for future discussion.  

As the kingdom proceeds, the Lord intends to return a pure tongue to the earth so that all people may communicate efficiently and clearly in the same language. This will facilitate His control over the earth’s populations and encourage dialog between all its citizens. In our present ignorance (we have not been informed) we project that this pure tongue will be the Hebrew language. The compelling conclusions that we may draw from late findings such as the equally spaced letters spelling out relevant messages to mankind (The Bible Code) throughout the Word is enough to convince this watcher that the Hebrew language possesses all the qualities needed for the vastly expanded technology of that future time, the reformed social needs, the diverse medical accomplishments, the administrative language, the godly instruction that will be spread abroad, and shall be adequate as the instructional language of the Saints and of Christ in the perfecting earth!  

In conclusion: there are perhaps several elements of the new institutions of Christ that we have overlooked in this would-be essay. Pursuant to this project of defining the events that we expect to be accomplished when Christ appears the second time upon the earth – as we are assured He shall – I would like to offer each of you a series of four lectures following generally the above format in a Power Point series on this same subject, but well illustrated by charts, diagrams, photographs and maps. In order for you to view these Power Point lectures you will need to have a Power Point Viewer downloaded to your computer – that is, unless you are utilizing some of the latest versions of Microsoft Windows which contains Power Point already. If you do not already have Power Point functions you may download a free reader-version of it from the Microsoft web site. You may then make your own DVD recordings from your downloaded slides if you wish.

These four lectures have been presented at various venues in North America within the past two years and have been emailed to several interested friends during this time. They are free, needless to say, but you have to contact me via email and request these, after which I will send them to your email address in two large Power Point files. Your ISP must allow large files to be transferred as both are huge. There are perhaps 300 total slides in this presentation and all the text is included as the slides unfold, with no voice-over addition, a technique I have not yet mastered.  When I become capable of doing so, I do intend to post these on our web site for eTPL and make them resident there for anyone to access and read.  Until then, my only solution is to email them directly to you from my systems on your request. My current email address is     helafferty@gmail.com.    God be with you all …  <HEL MD/USA>

The Prophecy Letter

January 2012

Prophetic Timelines Part Two

Continued from December, 2011

H E Lafferty

Last End of the King of the North – 1917(Daniel 11: 40-45)

The “king of the north” of Daniel 11 – and only Daniel 11 – has intrigued and mystified prophecy students for many years, probably since the time of Daniel! When examined closely, that account begins with the conquest of Judah by Babylon in 604 BC and continues throughout centuries until Judah is preparing to return to its land. Its term is exactly 2,520 years, the terminal anniversary marked by the overthrow of the Ottoman Empire’s hegemony over Jerusalem on December 9, 1917.

      The long series of adventures of the kings of the north and south is detailed in that single chapter, the last verse of which trumpets his end … he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. (Daniel 11: 45) We must admit that this is the terminal episode of a long line of such kings. At this time the King of the North ceases to exist; he is a relic of history.

      But the account continues in chapter 12 - Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

      A compelling set of arguments for this termination of the Ottomans as the last end of the king of the North is made by an article in the Jan to June, 2011, offerings of this newsletter – “Why Ezekiel 38/39 and Daniel 11: 40-45 are Different Prophecies” by Jonathan Farrar. Within that article is a transcription of an article written by this author from The Prophecy Letter of May/June, 1996, entitled “The King of the North: Terminated in 1917.” Because these expositions are readily available to readers they will not be rehearsed here. We commend your attention to them both.

      We note here that Daniel 12: 1 et seq immediately began its fulfillment with the “standing up” of the Archangel, Michael, “the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.” It is a given that, since it only NOW that he “stands up” for Israel, Michael stands for the People when they are IN the land or about to be restored to it – when they have a designated identity AS God’s separate and distinct People, as they were imminently about to establish in 1917 – the first (really the second, after the First Zionist Congress of 1897) – honing in sharply upon the physical establishment of Israel as a Jewish State, accomplished in 1948.

      The decades of 1917 through 1948 therefore encompassed the “time of trouble” which Daniel foresaw. During that time the Jews of Europe suffered the most horrible persecution any group has ever known – terror, murder, burning, starvation, and slavery unto death – the Shoah of Nazi Germany.

      We know the general details of that time; and that out of it, specifically, grew the unstoppable drive by the Jews of the world toward the establishment of a nation of their own in the Holy Land – building, as they certainly did, upon the preparatory efforts already accomplished by their intrepid fellows of earlier years, beginning with the First Aliyah of the late 1800s, and ending with Israel the State in 1948. The World Zionist Organization itself birthed the State of Israel as a direct result of the events of 1917 – the Balfour Declaration and the Liberation of Palestine. The Times of the Gentiles were indeed fulfilled as the incessant and irrevocable increase of “Israel” began in earnest and in a visible reality!

      It is this action which is indicated in the phrase, “at that time Thy people shall be delivered …” for their deliverance began visibly to be fulfilled as manifestation of the forecast of 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. By 1956, that entire verse had become for practical purposes, entirely fulfilled!

      The Plan moves forward with unstoppable power and glory to the name of the Father! No critic is privileged to deny or denigrate this accomplished fact.   <>

 Time, Times and a Half: 1917, and

1,260 Days: 1917

 Further down in Daniel 12 we encounter the vision of the three angels and the river, one of which stood above (upon) the waters of the river … Dan 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 5  Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. 6  And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? 7  And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

      By this vision we understand the river to stand for the time of Judah’s desolation – the 2,520 year span of time from 604 BC to 1917 AD, or seven “times.” The man holds up both hands perhaps indicating half of the period with one hand and half with the other hand – 1260 plus 1260; he then pronounces the time period of a time, times, and half a time.

      We note quickly that “a time, times and an half” is equivalent to 360 plus 2 x 360 plus 0.5 x 360, or 1,260 years – half of the seven times. The solution of this time period is relatively simple: it is the latter part of the seven times. Bisecting the period of 604 BC to 1917 AD we arrive at 657 AD; from that time to the end of the period is therefore 1,260 years.

      The year 657 AD is within the era of (soon after) the conquest of Syria which took place in 637 AD. It is concurrent with and was followed closely by the construction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (begun in 689AD?) by the Islamic power which was exerting control of God’s City, Jerusalem in that day. It is a landmark time, for that Dome of the Rock, a pagan, Islamic shrine to Mohammed, is the latest of a series of “abominations” which have occupied the site of the earlier Temples of God. Indeed, Dr. Leen Ritmyer has stated that the Rock which it shelters bears authentic markings which prove it to be the foundation stone for the Ark of the Covenant of God which resided in the Most Holy Place of His Temple.

      It is therefore, in the strictest sense, an “abomination” in the holy place.

      The angel’s statement is significant as he tells Daniel the end of that time period is also when “he shall have accomplished (drawn to a close, or ended) (scattering) the power of the holy people (then) all these things shall be finished” or drawn to their conclusion. The application fits perfectly as we have seen that the terminal year of 1917/18 marked significant advances in The Plan leading to fulfillment of the re-gathering of God’s people (ending of the scattering of them) 1847/48. That event was 1290 days and considered next.

      Notice carefully that he reveals that the vision should only be understood at the time of the end, telling Daniel to SEAL the book (so no man could open and understand it) until that time. It is significant that a few students of God’s word indeed DID understand the vision shortly after that time, and wrote about it as early as 1918 or 1919 (A. Fry in The Testimony of that time).

      The “1260 Days” is similarly expressed, confirming this time period’s termination, in the vision above, ending as it did in 1917 with the ousting of the Ottomans from Palestine. <>

1290 Days: 687-88, or 1947-48?

 Dan 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

      An important correlation which perfectly (perhaps only nearly perfectly, may I say) has recently (just at the date of this writing) occurred to me – and it is this. The daily sacrifice was essentially taken away with the conquest of Judah in 604 BC – the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles. Judah’s commonwealth was taken over by Babylon, and its sovereignty taken away – although the Temple was not physically destroyed for a few more years. But their years of captivity had begun with certainty.

      If the 1,260 year period terminated in 657 AD (which it did) then 1,290 years from the   “taking away of the daily sacrifice” terminated in 687 AD. This date was within a whisper of the date at which construction is estimated to have begun on the Abomination (the Dome of the Rock): 689 AD! It is reputed to have been finished in the year 691 AD – a fact which would confirm that this particular application of the 1290 days could be accurate, and would irrefutably confirm the abominable identity of that shrine to Mohammed standing in the holy place (even if we did not recognize it for other reasons)!!

      Indeed, with the technology then available, the historically-estimated two year construction period of the Dome of the Rock seems extremely short. If it indeed was completed in 691, it may very well have initiated four years earlier, in 687! With such an application as we see here, the projected beginning of construction is more important than the completion, for it is in the BEGINNING of the project that the site to be abominated is chosen, marked out, and claimed by the constructors! So, the site is corrupted from the beginning. Just a thought, of course, but we feel it is worth serious consideration.

      There is of course also the standard corollary of this time period: from the end of the “1260 days” a further extension of 30 years to “1290 days” brings us to 1947/48 in which time period we have observed the time of trouble for the Jews beyond any other time, ending with their proclamation of Statehood in May, 1948, after having the Land Partitioned by the UNO in November, 1947!

      Our current thinking is that this latter application is less likely and perhaps even “forced” more than the former, for the events of the first instance seem to fit the prediction far better. <>

2300 Evening-Mornings (2300 Days: The Sanctuary Cycle) 1967

 In this instance, again, I will refer your close attention to an article already posted on this eTPL web site: under the section heading, Jan to Jun, 2011, the article “The 2300 Evening-Mornings of Daniel 8” discusses this subject in great detail from relevant scriptural references.

      It began – this period of 2300 years (represented by evening-mornings, or “days”) – with the initial attack of Alexander the Great against the Persians at the River Granicus in present day Turkey, in early June of 334 BC. Alexander’s lightning cavalry charge brought a decisive victory which he pursued further and further until he had overthrown the Persians and taken their polity.

      A Bible scholar in Louisville, Kentucky, around 1865 came to the conclusion that the 2300 evening-mornings (defined by him as calendar years) would reach their terminal point in the spring or early summer of 1967 – which it indeed did!

      In the run-up to this conclusion the Israelis strove mightily to retain their presence in the Old City of Jerusalem (which includes the Sanctuary site – Temple Mount) but could not hold it. The victory of the Arab Legion of Jordan over the Israel Defense Force, Palmach, was its only victory in the entire conflict’s Jerusalem action by routing the Jews from the Old City and gaining possession of it just before the truce of June 1949. The Jews did not gain control of Temple Mount for another 19 years when, during the Six Day War of 1967, the IDF decisively defeated the Arab Legion in not only Jerusalem but in the “West Bank” of Judea-Samaria as well. The sanctuary was finally again under Jewish control after EXACTLY 2300 years, probably to the day, if history is correct. The Battle of the River Granicus is estimated to have occurred on June 7th, 334 BC; the period came to its termination on June 7th 1967 AD! There could not be a more perfect fulfillment of this prophecy. <>

Minor AND Major Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks -> 36 AD and 1996 AD

Summary:

1897/98           68th Jubilee

1917/18           End Times of the Gentiles

Balfour Declaration (legal):  Nov, 1917

Liberation of Land (de facto): Dec, 1917  - Allenby

1946/47          69th Jubilee

Partition of Palestine 1947 by UNO (legal): Nov., 1947

State Israel by proclamation (de facto): May 1948

1995/96           70th Jubilee

An extensive article is already in place on the eTPL site which discusses this subject exhaustively. It is to be found in the section 2009-2010, and is in two parts: “The Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks” Parts 1 and 2, q.v., please.

      The widespread misinterpretation of this particular prophecy has led many far afield from God’s Plan. Almost everyone who comments on this prophecy on TV (the only ones we are familiar with) will declare that Jesus was crucified at the end of the 69th week and that the 70th week was suspended – placed in abeyance until modern time – a type of fulfillment which is completely unheard of in the annals of prophecy; no prophecy of which we are aware has any such “gap.”

      The self-appointed experts on this prophecy declare that the “final week” of the prophecy has to do with the deception of Israel by “the Antichrist” of their mythology. They claim that a strong leader will step forth from the shadows and save Israel from destruction by its enemies, then take charge of their nation. He, they say, will rebuild the great Temple in Jerusalem to satisfy the Jews’ yearning and institute sacrifices in it.

      However, they fancifully claim, at the end of three and an half years he will erect a statue of himself in that Temple and demand that the Jews worship him. They will refuse, of course, and he turns on them. It seems that the return of Christ to the earth at the end of that period is what saves the Jews from the Antichrist who He defeats and destroys; this Antichrist is identified with “the devil” of their philosophy.

      When you dismiss all this hokum and mythology and get down to the real truth of God’s word (as in the article referred to above) you will discover the mathematically proven dates of the prophecy, for it has been fulfilled as to its “major” (initial) intent. The dates prove that Jesus was baptized at the beginning of the 70th week (end of the 69th) and ministered to His people for 3 ½ years, at the end of which time he was “cut off” by crucifixion – his death ending any efficacy of the “daily sacrifice” (causing it to cease) under the Law. Several bits of information in the remainder of the N. T. assure us that Jesus’ ministry continued through the apostles and disciples for the next 3 ½ years, fulfilling the final “week” of the prophecy.

      So there is the prophecy laid out in its simplicity and directness – so easy to interpret after its fulfillment.

      But there is another facet of the prophecy which is essentially hidden to cursory observation; it is this. By revealing the prophecy in the way that He does, as seven weeks, sixty and two weeks, and one week, the prophecy takes on additional connotations – a considered relationship to the Cycles of Jubilee, the major event-based advance into history by the Jews.

      Dan 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks (69 weeks) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (the last week of the 70): and in the midst of the (70th) week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease (because He fulfilled the Law, rendering it ineffectual), and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

      The “beginning of weeks” is BC 1435 when these words were given to Moses: Exodus 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

 The Jubilee years of Israel began at this date as well. The first phase of the prophecy was stated as seven “weeks” or 49 years’ duration – the exact period of one Jubilee period. Leviticus 25: 8-11 clarifies this institution for us. This clue has been understood by scholars to indicate a tightly bonded connection to the Jubilee Cycles.

Since there are Seventy WEEKS here, could there also be Seventy JUBILEES? We have calculated 70 Jubilee Cycles of 49 years each and find them to conclude in the year AM5999, which in the common reckoning is 1996-1997 – coincidentally the end of the sixth thousand-year period since Creation!

The confluence of dates is incredibly interesting, for that date of the end of the 70th Jubilee also ushered in the seventh period of a thousand years since Creation!

Now … is that important? Well, of course it is! Further, we can be sure that the dates are accurately understood as we consider certain dates within that 70 Cycle span which mark important occasions. Remember that the first section of P70W was specified as “seven weeks.” We have defined this phrase as seven Sabbaths of years, or 49 years. The period is equivalent to one Jubilee Cycle. The entire Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks occupies exactly TEN Jubilee Cycles. From the Decree of Artixerxes Longimanus in 455 BC to 36 AD was ten Jubilee Cycles – the twentieth Jubilee to the thirtieth Jubilee in the series which began with the year 2569 AM, or BC 1435. It was the year specified in Leviticus 25: 8 - 11 as the beginning year of the Law of the Jubilee Years.

Other Jubilee anniversaries are seen to be extremely relevant. In our times,

1995/96 was the end of the 70th Jubilee. Entry into the Seventh Millennium.

1946/47 was the end of the 69th Jubilee. Partition of Palestine>Jewish Statehood

1897/98 was the end of the 68th Jubilee. First Zionist Congress at Basle.

1848/49 was the end of the 67th Jubilee. The “annus mirablis” referred to by John Thomas as a significant year in prophetic fulfillment.

There are several others which you may discover which occurred on landmark dates in the furtherance of God’s Plan.

With that brief summary of the “greater” term of the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks as reflecting a larger period in God’s septiform plan of redemption equating to Seventy Jubilees we leave off consideration of this riveting prophecy. <>

Beginning of Intifada Within Israel:1987

 In the fourth chapter of Daniel, the King Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a great tree (which was symbolic of himself – and by extension – symbolic of Babylon as an empire). Here is the record: Dan 4:10 Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: 12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. 13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven; 14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: 15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: 16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.

      The great Tree stood for the King and his empire, Babylon. There are logically two inferences in this vision: the first is that referring to the king himself being removed from his throne and left to the dew of heaven. The transition from the kingdom to the man Nebuchadnezzar is clearly discerned in verse 16, where the inferences switches to the man in the words, “Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him, and let seven times pass over him.” Here seven “times” are seven years. It is well known that the king lost his reasoning for a period of seven years during his reign and became a feral human, which some call a lycanthrope: a wolf-man. His nails and hair grew as his uncontrolled life was taken over by madness. At the end of that time his reason returned and he resumed his throne. It was a period exactly similar to the Times of the Gentiles which Babylon initiated upon Judah!

      The second instruction of this vision is that of the tree (Babylon) which was cut down in 534 BC when conquered by the Medes and the Persians. At its cutting down, its stump was to be banded by bands of iron and a brass. The four metals of the Image earlier seen in a vision by the king had been gold, representing Babylon; silver, representing the Medo-Persians, his successors; the brass, representing the Greeks, who defeated the Persians; and the iron, representing Rome, which succeeded Greece.

      Here, the stump was created by the silver power (Medo-Persia) which cut down the Babylonian tree; the iron and brass bands were symbolic of the remaining two succeeding powers of Greece (brass) and Rome (iron) – all of whom should hold in thrall the people of God for the entire seven times of their captivity.

      But in a real sense, Babylon was also in remission for this entire time – until the time when it should revive and re-constitute as the Metal Image of the dream and stand on its feet to confront the Son of Man as “Babylon the Great” (Revelation 18: 2) when He appears to defeat Babylon again as the Christ of the Second Advent. That period of time stretches from 534 BC to 1987 AD, at which time we should see some progress in The Plan toward that end.

      So, we ask did any unusual event occur in 1987 which would further The Plan in some significant way? It seems important to me that further insults were heaped upon Israel by the Arab Intifada (the resistance) which began specifically on December 9, 1987 – an astonishingly accurate period of exactly 70 years after the conquest of Jerusalem by General Sir Edmund Allenby on that date in 1917!

      Can this simply be a “coincidence” of monumental proportions? – Or does it have a profound meaning? Perhaps it is this: since all the heathen enemies of Israel, of Christ and of the Father are Babylonish in character, this entirely new assault against the Jewish State by the local enemies of Israel might fill the requirement, although there seems no DIRECT connection with the Babylonian Harlot of Revelation 18. All these enemies are certainly of a cloth, resisting stringently (as they all do) the authority and sovereignty of the Lord Christ when He appears. The Apocalyptic episode of their resistance is certainly the apex of ALL the enemies in their futile, desperate bid to survive and prosper against Israel and its Messiah. You must decide whether this specific incident fulfills this prophecy; we know of no other definable way-marker to which we may point at this anniversary. <>

This Generation Shall Not Pass: 1948 > 2011>2018?

 This phrase has provoked much discussion among prophecy students ever since the completely unexpected, earth-shaking victory of Israel over its Arab enemies in its War of Independence in 1948.

      Everyone recognized this shooting forth of the “fig tree” (Israel) as fulfillment of this unquestionable miracle among the nations was a terminal event. Those who beheld it (were alive at the time) were promised NOT to pass away until all things be fulfilled, by which we understand Jesus to say, “Until I come” in power and great glory – for that specific event was indeed harbinger of the final consolation to which He referred.

      We have cogitated upon the phrase, “this generation” for years.

      At first we thought it must surely mean forty years – the common length of time thought of as a generation. But 1988 brought nothing new except The Intifada in late 1987; no progress of the kind we expected!

      Then we remembered that Israel journeyed until its original generation had died in the wilderness (40 years) but that they had not yet inherited their Land – Canaan. That required seven years for conquest. But it required seven more years for its settlement – 14 years total.

      So we added 14 years to 1988 and reached 2002 AD – surely a significant year (?). But no! Christ did not appear or call His people away to His judgment.

      We began to consider the prophecy from other slants. He says that He will do unto Israel as he did to His people in the coming out of Egypt. Did he mean the miraculous deeds He did for them rather than the length of time it required? That is certainly a reputable conclusion, for He has certainly performed miraculous deeds with His People Israel in this day!

      But it leaves us at loose ends as to an estimated period of TIME, long the object of our intense curiosity and desire.

      Then we considered perhaps by a “generation” He was indicating the 70-year allotment for man for one lifetime. 1948 plus 70 years brings us to 2018 AD. It that the possible year of His coming? Some have posited other calculations which end on or about that year as well, so perhaps we must occupy for another seven years …?? We will know only when the time arrives!

      Meanwhile, the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks has been fulfilled.

      When the Messiah of Israel actually comes to Israel in glory and in strength and saves them, the “churchmen” of the world will exclaim: Aha! The Antichrist has come! None of them shall have been raptured to the heavens as they believe (it’s not in The Book!) so … He must surely be The Fake!

      Their beliefs will seemingly be confirmed when He begins to build the Temple – this powerful, invincible Jewish Leader who until now has been entirely unknown! And when He completely and summarily disarms Israel as indicated in Zechariah 9: 10 they will be absolutely sure! – and begin to resist Him with all their power.

      So the Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (as they interpret it) ends on a dull note for the “prophets” of today who prophesy their own words and thoughts, not those of the Father.

      Hopefully their smattering of knowledge of the Word will be sufficient to guide them into a truthful set of decisions before the day of opportunity passes for them and their flocks. It is their godly searching that will bring them to the Enlightened Nation which Christ shall have created in that day – a Light Unto the Nations, as termed in the words of Luke 2:32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

            The identical intention is voiced in the wonderful words of Isaiah 66:19 And I will set a sign among them (the nation of Israel), and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. 21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. 22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

Isa 66:23  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

      The declaration of His glory among the Gentiles is another expression of His intention, and the newly achieved success and happiness of the Jewish nation will be an attractive force to His Way directed to the Gentiles – those who, at that time, are facing hardship, failure, and spiritual poverty.            

      We can be assured that this great cast of disappointment and disillusionment shall afflict virtually the whole population of the earth because of an observation from Zechariah 8:20 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: 21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. 22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD (an utterly different approach compared to formerly when they worshiped mammon and mythical gods). 23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you. Otherwise the Gentiles would be the holders of Enlightenment and Godliness, and men would be coming to them for godly benefits!

      This information relates not to a minority of the people of the earth; it relates to the great majority of all the people. It relates to all those who have inherited without question the apostate teachings of the universal “Church” of the Seven Hills – and the ideals of all her Protestant daughters, who also understand not the Truth of the Scriptures. His Second Advent shall take them entirely by surprise; He shall come to them as a thief in the night – stealthy, silent, unknown, and mysterious – because of their centuries of neglect of objective study of the Word which has left them ignorant and gullible.

      The Apostle Peter warned of this certainty in these words:

2Pe 3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God (and not by organic evolution) the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the (political nations) heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein (the society we now know) shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

      The “Christians” of this age do not understand these words – that the physical earth is not doomed but that it is the human institutions of greed and corruption that are doomed – this order of things; He shall establish in their place a New World Order of inconceivable efficiency and utility, and of blessing for mankind.

      His gospel shall go forth into all the earth as it only went forth originally by the mouths and spirits of the apostles and prophets of old. It is a Gospel which the world has not understood for millennia. That is why it is depicted by Zechariah as being so novel and desirable to the entire world – brought to them by the mercy of the Desire of all Nations, the Lord Jesus Christ.

      Speaking of the kingdom age, Haggai 2:6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. That house is the newly erected Temple of the Millennium whose Glory is that of His Son – Shekinah personified for the kingdom age – God With Us. It is not a Trinitarian concept but simply indicates the immortal, invincible, all-present Person in Whom the Father has literally instilled Himself by resurrecting and immortalizing His faithful Son.            

                                              <HEL MD/USA, December 21, 2011>

We are used to and almost inured to the daily bad news from the Middle East – bloodshed, riots, car bombings and more.  But there is one spot of shining light in the area – a country forged in almost unending wars, a country that has absorbed millions of immigrants: Israel – its prospects have never been brighter.

Subpages (1): Printer Friendly page for TPL Jan to Jun 2012

The eProphecy Letter

December 2012

Portraits of Antichrist

H E Lafferty

In this exposition, we approach one of the most controversial subjects in Scripture - Antichrist, or "the Antichrist." A comprehensive, scriptural analysis of this subject yields many extremely unique and unwholesome facets of his ungodly existence. The view of the Christian world has been warped and skewed by many improbable ideas, drawing a portrait of their Antichrist as a much different one from that depicted in the Word of God.

In this essay, we strive to consider many fine details of Antichrist, and to focus on each of these in order to understand his nature, character and identity.

Just who ... or what ... is this Antichrist? There are unmistakable clues in God's word. The following considerations are far from exhaustive ...

1. Antichrist declares that Jesus came not in the flesh of mankind. John addresses these important features of the Adversary: 1John 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3  And every spirit that confesseth NOT that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is NOT of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

This unmistakable TEST will automatically and unfailingly define antichrist for us.

Note carefully here that John's concern is "false prophets." We submit to you that the Pope of Rome is identical with the "false prophet" of Revelation 16:13: And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16  And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Then note carefully that truth-teachers freely own that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, meaning in the flesh common to all  mankind. When Adam fell, taking Eve with him, he was condemned to death. Only by some Divine scheme of redemption from death could he ever live forever. Subsequently, God clothed the pair with coats of skin, which means he offered a typical animal sacrifice of cleansing for Adam that he die not immediately for his transgression.

By being so condemned, Adam and all his posterity, without exception, stood subject to death at the end of their mortal lives. His posterity included Jesus Christ some 4,000 years later; Jesus was born of a woman, and born in "sin" although he had not committed sin and never did commit any sin. Yet, Jesus Christ died the death of the mortals just as all others.

But most Christians of this day will never admit that Jesus was born in "sin." It seems beyond their comprehension that they are, by such claims, actually saying that Jesus did NOT come in the flesh. And that He, like every other mortal, did not have to suffer death but merely gave His life gratuitously for the salvation of His followers. Yea, that being "God the Son," He could not really have died! John stated in I John 4:3, that this kind of false doctrine is even now already in the world.

So it is readily apparent that antichristian principles were beginning already to be expressed in John's day, just prior to 96AD.

Then he further reveals that the teachings of this false prophet and the others mentioned will lead all the kings of the earth to the battle of that great day of God Almighty, which he names in verse 16, as Armageddon.

It must be evident to every student of God's word, that if a "church" proclaims that Jesus Christ did NOT come in the flesh, then it is anti-Christ, or Antichrist. In attempting to circumvent this objection, the Roman "church" has handily concocted the fantasy called the immaculate conception of Mary, Jesus' mother, so that He could not have been stained with sin in any way. From the moment of her conception of Jesus, they say the blessed virgin was "by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of JESUS Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of Original Sin." [Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854) DS2803.]

This argument leads to the claim that Jesus was NOT tempted in all things as were His brethren, that He overcame NO sin because He was never challenged BY sin (diabolos), and the conclusion stated by the inspired words of the writer to the Hebrews are false:  Hebrews 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

In addition to lying about Mary and her state of salvation, in declaring that Jesus came in some state other than that of the flesh of mankind the catholic church teaches that Jesus did NOT come in the flesh. This is a "Jesus" other than that of the Apostle in  1John 4:3 (as well as of 2John 1:7)! In God's Plan, such a redeemer cannot redeem men from the sin common to all mankind, for he is not himself subject to the same condemnation of sin.

Not only could Jesus do that ... He did do it!

The "world" does not understand that "sin is the father of sins;" it does not conceive of constitutional sin as precursor to transgressional sin - only to the first of which was the Savior of mankind subject, for he committed NO personal sins.

But the description of antichrist goes much further, revealing the complex facets of deceit which the church fulfills so perfectly.

2. The church-state would be characterized as a woman sitting upon a beast. In Revelation 17:3, John writes: So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

We well know that the Apocalypse is a book of signs (symbols) delivered to John by the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven (Revelation 1:1), and that it was "signified" to him by an angel. That is, it was delivered in an endless series of symbols. Throughout the Revelation, and the Bible in general, we see consistency of use of such symbols.

In this passage the WOMAN is a Church, or a body of particular believers. And in the Revelation, there are two prominent women - opposites of one another in every way. This woman of ill fame is thoroughly described in this chapter. She is the precise opposite of the Bride of Christ, whose character is given later in John's epistle - that "woman" being the Ecclesia of Christ, the Collective Wife of His great favour and blessing.

The Almighty tells Jeremiah (6:2) that, I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.

In similar manner, BEASTS in the Apocalypse represent a Nation, (or Nations in this case), or the King of a Nation.

We recall the well-known visions of Daniel 7 in which verse 17 reveals that These great beasts, which are four, are (meaning: represent) four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. We know these to have been Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome - kings being put by metonymy for their sovereign kingdoms or empires.

This practice is not unusual. Today the USA is symbolized by a bald eagle. China is likened to a dragon. Britain is a lion; Russia is a bear.

Verse 19 of Daniel 7 describes this fourth beast AS DIVERSE from all the others, with the fierce characteristics of iron teeth and brass nails,  and the proclivity for total destruction - which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet. Verse 23 affirms this terrible character of the fourth beast, revealing again that it shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

Its diversity would be singular. It head bore ten horns. Up from among these, a little horn sprang forth, and did away with three of the original horns. This new horn had eyes, and a mouth speaking "great things" as well as a stern countenance.  This beast is a miniature picture of the ultimate outgrowth of the fourth kingdom of men. We shall remark on the horns presently.

The Beast carries a burden - a drunken, salacious woman. The Beast-nation is controlled (ridden) by a church!  This is the woman of Revelation 17:3 described somewhat differently. And the beast of this chapter is the same beast as Daniel's fourth beast, described in more detail.

What a strange anomaly! A State/Nation ruled by a Church!  Our minds instantly flash to Southern Italy and Vatican City which lies within the confines of Rome - a small country led by a Church whose head is the Pope. Today we might think it almost insignificant. But it is now making plans to structure itself into a global power in the place of Pagan Rome and the Holy Roman Empire which succeeded it.

3. The Beast received its power from pagan Rome.  Before the church gained prominence, it existed under the oppressive power of pagan Rome. Revelation 13: 4 informs, And they worshipped the dragon (pagan Rome) which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?

Volumes of historical chronicles record this transition from pagan Rome to Church Rome. When Constantine ascended to the throne of pagan Rome, he brought into the shaky empire the "Christian" religion as THE STATE RELIGION. All Romans became Catholics, just as surely as they had all been pagans! They did not so elect, but became so by proclamation of Constantine.

So the Dragon in this prophecy is Pagan Rome, as explained above.

Revelation 12:9 also identifies the dragon as "satan and the devil." But what ARE these? Satan is Greek satanas, G4567, and is defined as accuser. Devil is Greek diabolos, G1228, defined as false accuser or slanderer. These are integral to the raw nature of mankind, and dwell within his person. Only the mythology of Babylon and Egypt can connect these two with a fire-dwelling monster with horns and a tail - the "devil" of popular mythology.

These words of John (actually of Jesus Himself) refer to human nature, which is itself basically evil and separated from God as was Adam after he transgressed. They are the expression of sin, yes, but sin as expressed in and by human activities - in human flesh - and because of faulty human character, or lust. Mankind cannot attribute himself "victim" to sin caused by an external being; it's HIS own personal faults and imperfections which bring sin, and not an external tempter beyond his control.

The principle of innate sin in man (defined as lust and pride) causes active sin (or sinning) in the manner described by James, who perfectly understood what is in man, and what causes him to sin. James 1:13 - Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Here then is the transparently progressive pathway of active sin. There is no mysterious Tempter here. The source of man's sinning is a man's own lust, which entices him to transgress. When lust is admitted, it brings forth sinful acts, which result in death. In retrospect, the sin that is inherent in men and women, writ indelibly upon their very beings, brings death upon them in the finality.

So pagan Rome morphed into Catholic Rome. In a narrow slot of time the Dragon became another Beast, with seven heads and ten horns - and with an infamous woman riding upon its back. The Beast is covered with names of blasphemy, which define its nature and identity, and its multiple personalities or divisions (states).

Remember, the Beast is a nation (or empire); the woman is a Church. Men asked, "Who is able to make war (resist) this Beast?" Just as pagan Rome was dominant among men,  the Catholic Church became so powerful that not one ruler or subject could resist it. Its power was unlimited and unrestrained. Its evil was expressed in myriads of ways as even a brief study of Church history will reveal.

Although at times repressed, one can easily see that the mores of Rome pagan are perfectly expressed in Rome Catholic - in its teaching and behavior. They are identical in multiple ways: in clothing, in language (Latin), in architecture, in legal definition, in  ideology, in manner of life, in political expertise and intrigue, in complex financial operations, in consummate subterfuge, in their far-reaching influence, in their overall framework of belief and practice, and in their physical location.

So the Beast was established in the place of the Dragon. And the place of its establishment is also well defined ...

4.  The Beast would have seven heads.  Revelation 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Exactly what are these seven heads? We will discuss the ten horns in another section. We do not have to express any personal opinion on this matter, for Jesus' next words explain what this means: in verse 9, He says: And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are (represent) seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

The word "mountains" here is Greek oros, G3735, and means a mountain or an hill.

This infamous church/state sits atop seven hills. Only Rome is indicated; in all the world its chief characteristic is that it contains seven hills. So exactly where does Vatican City reside? It sits in Rome ... the city of the seven hills.

We remember that the fourth beast should be diverse from all kingdoms. The church/state of Rome is an unique combination in all history. And to add to its identity, it sits squarely in the seven hilled city of Rome.

Rome has existed for thousands of years. It has not always been prominent in human history. But its Church phase was destined to rule the world for a certain, set period of time ...

5. Antichrist was destined to rule the world for 1260 years.  We cite three scriptural references to this feature of the entity.

a. Revelation 13: 5 - And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

b. Daniel 7:25  And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

c. Revelation 12:6 - And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Close examination will reveal these three time periods to be identical.

Forty two months is three and an half years. In another context, "time" is one year, "times" is two years, and "a dividing of time" is an half year, or three and an half years. In yet another expression, 1,260 days are again three and an half years. All are the same time period.

Without going into an extended discussion on the derivation of these terms, all of them add up  to the same period of time, which is 1,260 YEARS in prophetic time - the amount of time during which the Ecclesia of Christ was destined to hide in the wilderness from its unstoppable oppressors.

This principle is established upon the statement in Ezekiel 4:6, which declares, I have appointed thee (Ezekiel) each day for a year. Also, in Numbers 14: 34, the Israelites were sentenced to wander in the desert for forty YEARS - one year for each day that the unfaithful agents spent spying out the land.

During this specified period of time, 1,260 years, the church of Rome would bear heavily upon its subjects, persecuting the followers of Christ in every place.

So, we inquire: Does history bear out this interpretation? We offer these thoughts ...

When did the Roman church hierarchy become a woman riding upon a beast - a church ruling a nation? At that point she would gain the ability and power of control, and accede to her full, dreadful potential to persecute the saints.

Historical support for this beginning shows that the papacy began its authoritative reign in 538 AD under the decree of Justinian (political) and under the (military) protection of Belisarius. Thus the two main parameters of this unique church/state are satisfied beginning in that year.

Now, for the prophecy to have validity, the resultant Beast ridden by the Woman would receive a mortal wound. Add 1260 years to 538AD and the result is 1798 AD - the pre-determined date of the wounding. Encyclopedia Britannica (1941) records that "In 1798 General Berthier made his entrance into Rome, abolished the papal government, and established a secular one."

IN EXACTLY 42 PROPHETIC MONTHS (years) after its ominous beginning, the papacy went "into captivity" by the authority of Napoleon!  Its power was truncated. Its career was (temporarily) ended. It had oppressed the Believers for exactly forty two months in prophetic time. But now it lay dead in its tracks for the indeterminable future, no longer a credible threat to the true Believers of that day.

How glorious is the Omniscience of our Father! How perfect is his foresight! And how wonderful and facilitative is His "day for a year" principle in confirming our understanding of His will and Plan!

6. The Beast to be mortally wounded after 1260 years. Another reference informs the student that ... Revelation 13: 3 - I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death ... This has been alluded to above, but this reference re-confirms the facts.

"Wounding" is usually done by military action - and so it was. As the Beast had killed Believers, so he should be killed - mortally wounded (wounded to death). The pope was exiled from the Vatican and died in another place. The beast had been mortally wounded ... its power withered and faded for a time.

There is a powerful similarity here to the FALSE Prophet's career to that of the One Whom he emulates as Vicar of Christ. Consider this: Jesus is well known to have served in his ministry for three and an half years, or 1260 days, before dying (being mortally wounded). In the same manner, the principle antichrist had also served his purpose for three and an half PROPHETIC days, and then been mortally wounded.

But there is more improbable intrigue ahead; just as the Christ was resurrected so shall be Antichrist!

7. The head (Antichrist) would be "healed" - or revived! Revelation 13: 3 - And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast.

Time moved slowly forward as the papacy now controlled only its church. Its state had been abolished. The Pope was imprisoned inside the Vatican. His powers were extremely limited.

His political and civil power had been completely erased, seemingly for all time.

But at long last, another surprisingly improbable event came about - improbable especially considering one of the parties to it. The secular Italian government of the day determined again to recognize the Vatican as an independent state within Italy! In 1929, Italian Foreign Minister Benito Mussolini signed the Lateran Concordat of 1929 on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel II, and Cardinal Gasparri signed it on behalf of Pope Pius XI. The newspapers of the day trumpeted the event as "an healed wound" in the precise words of the Apostle John!

And indeed, the world "wondered" at the Beast, refitted in its gear of mastery and authority, reinstated upon the City of Seven Hills astride the Tiber. The supreme leader of the church again became a religio-political figure of note, his wound healed, his future destiny once again established on its course of certainty according to the Biblical prophets.

8. The Beast that was, is not, and yet is.  Yet another incredible affirmation of Antichrist's agility and resiliency is attested in the words of Revelation 17:8 - The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Doubtless John himself did not have understood this revelation at the time it was given him. He fully realized that the Lord Jesus was informing him of the corruption of the Gospel of Christ in this revelation; but its permutations would have been a mystery to him. The language seems so impossible of fulfillment (of course he did not believe them so) it would have to play out in real time to be understood.

It has now done so!

Here is the historical outline:

The Beast that was ... The year 598 AD begins with the Decree of Justinian which established the bishop of Rome as head of the Roman State. The Harlot mounts the Beast and the two become one at that time. That arrangement continued until 1798 AD, when General Berthier, a Napoleonic commander, entered the Vatican and jailed the pope, abolishing his politico-religious power.

... and is not: From 1798 the papacy existed, but not as a political power by any means. It had been wounded unto death (for a time). The Lateran Treaty of 1929 healed the wound and restored the pope to his political office as head of the Vatican Free State.

... and yet is: From the year 1929, the Roman Catholic Church has again existed as a church and a state simultaneously - an unique arrangement in all history - the Harlot again mounted upon the bizarre Beast.

In this extremely improbable succession of events is clearly seen the outworking of this mysterious prophecy of so many parts. And is evidence of its clear negation of all the inane and foolish theories of the TV ministers who suppose an individual anti-Christ to arise in future, to reign for 3 1/2 years, then be mortally wounded, but be miraculously healed of his wounds to continue his reign of terror.

An intelligent, earnest investigation of historically verifiable events reveals the true outworking of this prophecy, and draws a clear mark between the fantasies of most observers and the pure, holy truth of God's eternal word, which is always open to sincerely seeking individuals whose goal is to glorify the Almighty, and not to aggrandize themselves, or attract thousands to expensive "prophecy conferences," or to sell millions of fanciful books.

9. Antichrist shall subdue three kings (nations) of the original ten of fallen Rome. Daniel 7:24 - And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

Here Daniel clearly sets forth that the ten horns represent ten KINGS or dominions. We know from history that when Pagan Rome fell in 476 AD it fragmented into ten separate kingdoms. Seven of the ten kingdoms accepted the idea of a universal Catholic faith which would exercise both religious and political control over the people of fallen Rome. But three of these did not accept that premise of the Church. As a result they were destroyed.

The first to fall was the Heruli, in 493 AD. This was a mercenary north German people.

Second was the domain of the Vandals, in 534 AD. They were an east German tribe.

Third to fall were the Ostrogoths, in 538 AD. At this time they were an Italian kingdom.

These were the three kingdoms which Daniel had prophesied would fall. Note carefully that it was in the year 538AD that the Roman Catholic Church initiated its official position and reign as the last phase of this fourth Beast of Daniel's prophecy! The Catholic Emperor Justinian overthrew these three "horns" because they supported Arianism as opposed to the orthodox Catholic faith. Pope Vigilius took his place in the papal chair in this very year under the MILITARY protection of Belisarius.

The perfect outworking of this powerful church was clearly the "little horn" speaking great things - the power that would strive to rise to become a global power in pursuit of its own ends.

The ten divisions into which Pagan Rome divided are generally accepted as ...

    1. The Alamannis which is now called Germany

2. The Visigoths which is now called Spain
3. The Franks which is now called France
4. The Sueves which is now called Portugal
5. The Burgundians which is now called Switzerland
6. The Anglo Saxons which is now called England
7. The Lombards which is now called Italy
8. The Ostrogoths
9. The Vandals
10. The Herulis
10. Antichrist's name adds to 666.

One of the most striking "marks" of antichrist is the number of his name: 666. Revelation 13: 16-18 states: And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

The pope has many official titles in several languages. Many of these languages attribute numerical values to several of their various letters. Notable are Latin (the language of the church), Greek, and Hebrew. Their values for each given letter is of course not the same, but all are certainly known from ancient time. It is astonishing how many papal titles there are and how perfectly they fulfill this prophecy of John!

The most established name of the pope is Vicariuis Filii Dei - Vicar of the Son of God. Note the perfection of this calculation from the values of these letters: as noted, some of the letters have no assigned numerical value (-).

V        5         

I         1

C    100

A        -

R        -

I         1

V (U) 5

S     -

 F     -          

I          1

L       50

I    1

I         1

 D   500

E        -

I         1

       666 TOTAL

Another is DVX CLERI (Captain of the Clergy); its numerical value is also 666.

D     500         

V         5

X       10

 C     100         

L        50         

E         -                      

R         -

I         1

       666 TOTAL

 In the Greek, the phrase "Latin Speaking Man" is Lateinos. Its value in the Greek is ...

L      30

A        1

T    300

E       5      

I      10

N    50

O   70

S  200

    666 TOTAL

Further study reveals that in the Greek language, The Latin Kingdom (He Latine Basileia) also adds to 666, as do Italian Church (Italika Ekklesia), and Apostates.  In the Hebrew Roman Kingdom (Romiith),  Roman Man (Romiti). There are others. One of the most damning may be that the Latin name of Pope John Paul II  (Ioanes Pavlvs Secvndo) also adds to precisely 666 - the first papal name to be so noted.

11. Antichrist's men shall not have a desire for women.  Especially in our time is this feature prominent! Daniel 11:37  Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.

This reference clearly indicates the homosexual character of the men of Antichrist. Thousands of Catholic priests have been indicted in widespread abuse of young boys in their charge - altar boys, choir boys, and others. It is striking how pervasive this practice is now known to be. It extends to all levels of the Catholic clergy - from Cardinals all the way down to the lowly parish priests. The author personally is acquainted with a man who was a Catholic Church choir leader who was summarily excommunicated for blowing the whistle on one of his parish priests who was abusing young boys. That priest was merely transferred to another location in his same role as a "preacher of the gospel" to his new parishioners.

The church will show you "proof" that their screening of young men who intend to become priests is designed to reject those with homosexual tendencies, but the practical result belies the validity of such claims.

CONCLUSION: The above topics are but a small sample of the real truth concerning Antichrist and his collective character through the centuries. This venerable, often hallowed institution has put to death an estimated 500 million men and women in time past who have rejected its teachings in the notorious Inquisition. That office was recently re-instituted by a pope and its principles were defended by him. The church of Rome intends in future to continue its age-old practice of enforcing its rules and laws on everyone who dissents.

But its intention shall not prevail. Instead, when it reaches the point of making war with the Lamb of God (Revelation 17: 14), the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

    <HEL MD/USA December, 2012>

The eProphecy Letter

November 2012

The Moving Events of Islam Versus Israel

Harold Lafferty

A lot has happened since November 14th, when Israel launched its Operation Pillar of Cloud with the superbly targeted assassination of Ahmed Jabari, chief of the Hamas military wing (is there any other wing of Hamas?) and of its rocket programme then shortly to be unleashed upon Israel. An unmanned aerial drone, aided by superbly precise intelligence, picked out the vehicle carrying Jabari and placed two air to ground missiles in its cockpit. We understand that in this instance, an Israeli operative succeeded in secretly placing a cell phone in Jabari's vehicle - a phone which continually broadcasted that vehicle's GPS parameters in precise readings as to longitude and latitude.

Completely unsuspected by Jabari, wherever he went in that vehicle he was vulnerable to the unmanned drone's missiles.

 Israel was beginning a plan not essentially to overthrow the Hamas government in Gaza (for what worse entity would replace it?) but its carefully laid plan to topple Iran's military channels into Gaza through Egypt. [Assessment of expert observers]

An Israeli security website quoted by DebkaFile described the entire operation as "the US and Israel unsheathing their first claws for Iran - in Gaza."

We had not an inkling that this was what was happening at the time.

The rockets into Israel from Gaza increased daily, a few hitting the Tel Aviv and the Jerusalem areas. Two of them fell in a Palestinian enclave in East Jerusalem. Oops!

Eight days after the Gaza Action began, it seemed to end. Whether it actually shall have ended, we are not yet sure. But it has halted for a moment as of this moment. On American Thanksgiving Day an Egyptian-mandated cease-fire went into effect when the world had been led to believe Israel was about to invade Gaza with brigades of ground troops.

The Gaza Strip was auto-selected as the Netanyahu government's first major action because of what some observers have called "a double Palestinian mistake: Hamas pushed out the military envelope against Israel too far while it was still the weakest cog in the radical terror machine Iran is building in the Middle East."

Hamas in the Strip began attacking Israeli territory late in October, injecting within those attacks skies full of missiles bound for population centres in Israel. The Israelis of the south had little time free of the terror of flying missiles hitting their homes, schools and hospitals.

This was not an impulse-generated attack by Hamas, as often has occurred in the past. Intelligence reports have determined that Iran's al-Quds commander was found to have secretly sent the commander of Hamas' military wing (Mohammed Jabari) his "orders" to launch a heightened cross-border terror campaign against Israeli forces. There were at least two intermediaries in the message path to Jabari.

But the intrigue grows more complex.

Israel has four primary decision makers tasked with matters such as these: Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and Army Chief of Staff Lt. General Benny Gantz. This committed decided to act quickly and decisively to head off Tehran's plans for building a strong force in the Gaza Strip before it got too strong to halt. And the citizens of southern Israel were in a frenzy to stop the missiles flying in from the West. It would be expedient for Israel to behead the Hamas snake before it could gain much more ground.

So, on November 14th, Israel launched with great fervour its latest Gaza campaign.

It will be helpful to review the important events in the sequence of events leading up to this apparently snap decision by Israel. From press reports we get this picture ...

"On October 23, an Israeli captain of the Givati Brigade approached the border fence in the Kissufim sector of central Gaza to open the gate for the unit under his command to pass through to the narrow 300-500 meter cordon sanitaire on the other side. As he touched the gate, a large bomb exploded gravely injuring him. Both arms and one leg were blown off.

It was the signal for Hamas operatives hiding in the sand dunes nearby to let loose with cross-border anti-tank missiles and mortar fire.

"On November 8, for the first time in six years, Hamas detonated a secret tunnel running under the Gaza border (into Israel). It was packed with explosives at the Israeli end, rigged to blow up against the armoured vehicle used by IDF engineers when they surveyed the ground for hidden explosive booby traps.

"By sheer luck, all four dismounted from the vehicle moments before the detonation - otherwise none would have survived the blast.

"But the four Givati soldiers riding two days later, November 10, in an armored command jeep near Kibbutz Nahal Oz were less fortunate. They were all seriously injured – two lost their eyesight - when their jeep was struck by a newly imported MIRA guided missile fitted with a MILAN anti-tank thermal sensor for precise targeting and capable of chasing its target for two kilometers."

Now, round two began - and it becomes even more complex.

Guided missiles had been recently delivered to Hamas in Gaza by a subcontractor. These missiles had been purchased in Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya, days before, and mounted on minivans which delivered them through the Egyptian Sinai to the south border of Gaza, where they were smuggled through the tunnels to Hamas forces.

These medium - to intermediate-range rockets were those fired into Israel in the new initiative.

Israel retaliated.

This brought forth another higher-quality weapon recently smuggled in from Libya. This weapon was a 5-inch mobile SK-8 Katyusha. This new hardware was being flaunted on direct orders from Tehran, Iran.

During the second week in September we had noted that two Hamas strongmen had visited Tehran once and Beirut twice. In these specific contacts they had formed a mutual defence pact between Hamas and Iran - a pact whose time had now come.

The US and Israeli analysts believed that the Supreme (Iranian) Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was eagerly intent on punishing Israel for its devastating attack upon another Iranian war project - the Iranian-Sudanese weapons factory and stores at the Yarmouk Complex near Khartoum, Sudan.

If you remember, that weapons complex was bombed at night by five or six mysterious warplanes which appeared out of nowhere and destroyed all the missiles that were packed and ready for shipment to Gaza, and the factory itself. This Yarmouk factory was the main source of the Iranian Grad missiles and the Fajr-5 rockets being supplied to Hamas and its evil twin, Jihad Islami, in Gaza.

At the Sudanese site, FIFTY long-range Fajr-5 rockets were palleted and ready to be smuggled to Gaza via Egypt. It would have been the largest shipment Iran had ever smuggled through to the Gazans. Those weapons had been built for the next surprise of the Palestinian Gaza war on Israel. But Israel knew about this factory and its products - and it was almost certainly Israeli warplanes which destroyed it in about five minutes. In doing so, the Israel Air Force was clearly sending a message to Iran that it could fly a good deal further than from Tel Aviv to Tehran in order to bring their destructive weapons to bear upon their enemies!

The Egyptians were complicit in this plan as I will try to explain later.

Meanwhile, Israel had secured US approval for its Gaza plans as all the intelligence focusing on Iran's hand in destabilizing Israel was packaged and delivered to Washington a month ago by Israel's National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, just before President Obama had set off for his latest Asian tour.

General Amidror placed it before Obama's National Security Adviser Tom Donilon - together with a proposed plan of action.

The plan was this:

Israel made it known that it was embarking upon a major military operation for dismantling Hamas' military and intelligence connection with Iran.

Amidror said he felt that the operation was extremely time-sensitive lest Iran establish itself firmly within Hamas as Iran's main secret channel to the Muslim Brotherhood's rulers of Egypt - a goal which Iran had not yet succeeded in establishing.

Israel feared that Hamas' growing military capability and intelligence cooperation with Tehran would soon suck in the Egyptian military to its side, eventually drawing in and engulfing the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, even to the point of seizing control of the seven West Bank Palestinian command brigades which keep PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in his seat of power. Hamas could then merely step into control of the West Bank, supplanting the "more moderate" Abbas.

So you see ... the plot thickens.

The Plan Develops

In order to halt the Egyptian and Palestinian slide into Iranian orbit, Jerusalem proposed this order of  events:

After completing the first stages of the punishing operation upon Gaza, Washington and Jerusalem would turn to Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi, asking him to broker a ceasefire between the IDF and Hamas - all neatly planned and pre-packaged for easy US consumption.

And we were all the while being led to believe an invasion of Gaza was eminent!

Israel and the US agreed that the ceasefire terms would also cover Egyptian military and intelligence agencies assuming responsibility for blocking the smuggling routes of Libyan weapons through the northern Sinai towns on the Suez Canal, and of Iranian weapons from Sudan via the Sinai Peninsula. That would place a firm cork in the flow of arms to Hamas if successful and place the brakes on Iranian influence within Hamas and with Egypt!

Now ... why would President Morsi  agree to do this deal?

For one main reason, Egypt's economy is in shambles. Morsi is so desperate for US financial assistance and loan guarantees (of some $10 billion) that he would be in no position to deny the necessary Egyptian cooperation in stopping the arms flow to Gaza. Our opinion is that there is yet another factor: halting the Gazan incursions and attacks upon Israel would favour the Egyptians in a secondary sense as well, reducing any likelihood of war erupting between Egypt and Israel.

By about November 10th, Israeli intelligence and its proposed plan of action hit Obama's desk. He signed off on the agreement on two conditions, say insiders:

A. Israel would not try and reoccupy any part of the  Gaza Strip.

B. The IDF would make sure to keep Palestinian casualties very low - both among Hamas and Islamic Jihad rank and file and the civilian population.

Pillar of Cloud ... Pillar of Fire

IT WAS ON THIS BASIS THAT THE STATE OF ISRAEL LAUNCHED ITS OPERATION PILLAR OF CLOUD ON NOVEMBER 14 WITH THE TARGETED ASSASSINATION OF AHMED JABARI, HEAD OF THE HAMAS MILITARY WING, BY THE UNMANNED DRONE AIDED BY THE PLANTED TELEPHONE IN HIS VEHICLE. It is thought that the operation was not designed to smash Hamas' government in Gaza, but to upset Iran's military channels into Gaza and into Egypt for the reasons already set forth.

Hamas labelled the Israeli retaliation, "Bricks From the Sky" for extremely good reason!

DebkaFile on November 23 commented that "Unbeknownst to anyone outside a tight circle, it was in fact a pillar of smoke and one of the most successful intelligence feats of deception in recent years."

Now here is another astonishing aspect of this entire affair - and it is certainly not finished yet, so stay attentive! The Gaza Campaign was the brainchild of Intelligence wizards rather than army Generals! Six spymasters are complicit in this affair - and pay attention to this odd mix:

Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan,

Qatari intelligence chief Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al Thani,

Turkish National Intelligence Organization-MIT director Hakan Fidan,

Israeli Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, and

Egyptian General Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Rafaat ...

And a senior CIA officer of unknown identity, who stepped into a key slot in this group just three weeks ago.

Even the former Central Intelligence Director, David Petraeus took part in the preparations until he resigned on November 9th. Petraeus had visited the Middle East on September 3 and October 31 (first to Istanbul, then to Cairo); these visits were directly related to this beautifully clandestine operation.

It was reliably reported that although the half dozen spymasters did not  approach this task in a formally ordered, central command format, but did so in direct discussions over a period of months. The resulting master plan necessarily put aside the national and intelligence agendas of each country's aims so, ultimately, consensus was ultimately achieved on a common goal. That goal was to "stem Iran's headlong rush for Middle East domination (which) was to be kicked off in Gaza and involve Egypt. It would provide President Barack Obama with the springboard for his next moves targeting Syria and then Iran."

Would you have believed that? 

One Operation, Two Coups

So it becomes clear that accurate intelligence rather than military brainpower was necessary for this operation because its main thrust consisted of two internal coups: one in Egypt (to prop up Morsi) and one in Gaza (to quash Hamas' Iranian connection), thus displacing pro-Iranian elements from their intrusive positions.

Prior to this bit of intrigue, the Muslim Brotherhood strongman, the millionaire tycoon Khairat al-Shater, had wooed and won the cooperation of Mohammed Morsi, who had to be placed back on his stool of authority. This operation did that beautifully.

But the blow in Gaza was more iffy than the palace changeover in Cairo. The clandestine agents of all the six intelligence chiefs who formed this plan had to isolate and then bring down Hamas strongman Mahmoud al-Zahar, who had gained stature from his contacts and trips to Tehran and Beirut as already detailed. Al-Zahat was well into his goal of sidelining Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his military chief, Ahmed al-Jabari, in the movement's leadership.

In so cooperating, all six intelligence chiefs could benefit from all information gathered by the undercover agents staging the coups and supplying intelligence for the Israeli operation.

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, had visited Gaza in a high profile visit on October 23 - the first Arab ruler ever to visit this small Palestinian country. While there, he offered a half billion dollars to aid Gaza development projects, thus ingratiating himself and his plans to the Gazans.

In reality, DebkaFile reveals that al Thani was essentially on a final scounting expedition before the coup was attempted. He is well schooled in the hazardous task of toppling much bigger tyrants than those in Gaza, such as Muammar Qaddafi in Libya and Bashar Assad in Syria - an event yet to come, but already in the works - in both of which Qatar was and is deeply immersed. Al Thani went about shaking hands with all of Hamas' leaders, including its military commanders. He departed Gaza with the conviction that Ahmed Jabari was the keystone of the al-Zahar power base. Removing him and his deputy would bring their target tumbling down.

And so it seems to have done so!!

Acting on the Qatari assessment, the IAF prioritized the targeting of Ahmed Jabari and killed him on November 14th, which was the opening volley of its eight-day Gaza offensive operation. He had been an elusive target of Israel for eight years. This time he was killed in a trap of betrayal from his own ranks.

His deputy, Issa, escaped from the burning car in which Jabari was killed, and quickly anointed himself the successor to his former boss. But Issa's days are doubtless numbered as he remains high on the Israelis' agenda for elimination.

The result is, Morsi is back in the saddle and has the reins of power in his hand (for the moment). He gained enormous stature in the Middle East, in the Arab world, and in the international arena by pulling off the Gaza truce, and began to solidify his position as president of Egypt, securing much financial assistance from the USA. On Wednesday, November 21, Morsi paraded in front of the TV cameras of the world news services with the likes of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, and a whole glut of European foreign ministers who appeared in his support on worldwide TV. Adding to the surprises of the day, millionaire tycoon al-Shater displayed unusual resilience, the next day throwing his support behind the president, who is his rival.

Having said all that, like most processes placed in motion by internal intrigue, the Cairo and Gaza coups are still in their infancy, and will need careful nurturing and care to prevent possible counter-coups and reversals. Not all the coming surprises may be productive or friendly to the production.

              Obama - Now Planning to Go for Syria's Bashar al-Assad

Events now seem to be happening in lapse-time photography. On November 17th, the US navy's assault ships, the USS Iwo Jima, the USS Gunston Hall, and the USS New York, were transiting the Strait of Gibraltar on their way home for Thanksgiving, when they received orders to come about and head back to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, from whence they had come from a six month stint of duty. The official version of their orders - and the orders of 2,500 US Marines aboard them - was to  stand by until the Israeli-Gaza affair settled down or was resolved.

But the knowledgeable folks at DebkaFile, again, say that the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group will now be standing by for its next orders - to go on station off the coast of Syria. The intelligence news service claims that "President Barack Obama is now preparing, as soon as the Gaza situation stabilizes, to start engaging he US military and intelligence in direct intervention against the Assad regime in Damascus, and a speedy end to the Syrian civil war."

He reportedly conveyed this plan to the six national officers noted in the above named group. He is said to be weighing safe asylum regions and no-fly zones for Syria. Turkey and the Gulf States indicate their impression is that he is finally coming around to the notion of safe asylum zones, perhaps even some under the protection of the US Marine Corps, along Syria's borders with Turkey, Iraq and Jordan. Safe zones are also being considered for the Syrian border strip with Lebanon. He seems also ready to proclaim Syrian skies a no-fly zone for all military and civil aircraft.

We might well ask, what would those goals achieve?

Such a move would cut off the Iranian air corridor through which military supplies are ferried to Assad's armies as well as the overland corridor through Iraq - and therefore Hezbollah's supply lines to its forces in Lebanon.

Additionally, the Iwo Jima Group and other US Navy warships from bases in Turkey, Greece and Italy could throw a blockade around Syria's Mediterranean ports, being ably assisted by British, French and Italian warships.

The regional leaders are said to have gotten the impression from their conversations with the US president that he has resolved, after the successful, disastrous setback dealt to Iran and Hezbollah in Gaza by the loss of Iran's "southern front" - that he has resolved on direct action to remove Assad from power in Syria. He is said to be acutely aware that time is of the essence: that unless the US steps in right away, the Assad regime might weather the Syrian popular revolt and hang onto power for some years to come. He seems to value the US gains from the Egyptian and Gaza coups, believing them to be too valuable to let fade away. And it may help that he has won four more years at the helm of the world's superpower.

So Mr. Obama is certainly counting on out-manoeuvring Russia in Syria in giving his active support to the Syrian revolutionaries, along with allies which are so similar to those who ousted Libya's Muammar Qaddafi last year - Britain, France, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

To head off Syrian or Hezbollah intrigue or conflict at their borders with Israel, Washington is recommending that Israel redeploy the tens of thousands of reservists posted around Gaza during the Eight Day Conflict to its northern fronts, hoping that Hamas will honour the ceasefire negotiated in Cairo at least for the time being.

All these notions seem confirmed by the build-up of US warships in the Mediterranean as well as Obama's recent withdrawal of his veto on NATO's proposal of stationing Patriot missiles near Turkey's border with Syria as requested by Ankara. Such a move is a NATO function and does not involve the approval of the Turkish legislature.

So Obama's approval of the anti-missile batteries' deployment on Turkey's border with Syria seems to be his first plainly evident move toward getting safe asylum sites and a no-fly zone in place inside and north of Syria.

The Patriots in Turkey will be manned by US military crews and will represent the first directed US military intervention in the Syrian conflict, although still outside the borders of Syria.

Simultaneously, US military personnel will also be posted in the Sinai and near Suez to operate and monitor the multi-billion dollar laser fence being constructed to protect Israel.

The Implications of These Amazing Events

Now: what do all these intriguing events mean to us from a prophetic viewpoint?

It is again a complex process of sorting the enemies of Israel for the final event of the Age - the Return of the Lord to His People, both natural Israel and spiritual Israel.

We cannot possibly foreknow the exact sequence of events. We have been surprised many times in the outworking of His plan with us and with Israel. We should expect more of the same.

But we must also be prepared ... and open to all occurrences as being the plan and will of our Father. In the past, many expositors have forecasted details far overreaching their personal insight - or misinterpreted the words of the prophets. They have misplaced events and nations; they have supposed identities of peoples to be clear when that turned out not to be the case. They have proposed dates when they should not have. They have misunderstood time periods grossly, and expected events on completely wrong dates. They have supposed more than one or two singular events to be the same when they were grossly separate and distinct. We must be careful not to make those same errors of judgment or interpretation.

However, in light of late developments, we can make some even more firm, careful, general assumptions about these affairs which are dominating the news of the day on any given day, and intruding into our minds powerfully at nearly every minute - perfectly unfolding, bolstering our innermost confidence, bringing ever nearer the Second Advent of our beloved Brother from the heavens.

It now seem clear to us that the Second Advent of the Lord from heaven is primarily concerned with one urgent, primal goal -- to clear the Land of Promise of all its interlopers -- all the internal enemies of God and His People Israel -- and assume clear and full control of it, defending its sanctity and its elevated status.

Firstly: Of this initial process of acquiring full control of this Land we are given details in many of the prophets: these events are those in which His initial appearance is detailed ... and in which He completely defeats the "Palestinian" and Assyrian factions aggressing His people, and routs them and all their influence by either destruction (or conversion?).

Psalm 102 - a time to favour Zion ... a set time to do so. When the Lord shall build up Zion, then shall He appear in His glory!

Obadiah - destruction of Edom in its "Palestinian" enclaves of today, all well defined by this short prophet. The Negev and the Sinai in the South; Moab and Ammon in the  East; South Lebanon in the North; the Gaza Strip; East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.

Micah 5 - defeat of "Assyria" of today, i.e., a confederacy of Iraq and Syria.

Psalm 83 - the intrusion and defeat of ten named divisions of Islam round about, all well defined and doubly named for surety.

Isaiah 11- the second re-gathering of Israel to its Land ... their strength, and their flying upon the Philistines, humbling Moab and Ammon to the East.

Isaiah 34 - My sword is bathed in heaven ... and shall come down upon Idumea.

Isaiah 63 - Who is This Who comes from Edom ... with blood-stained garments?

Ezekiel 35 - ... set thy face against Mt. Seir, and prophesy against it ...

Zechariah 10 - 14   and others, giving details of the Endtime conflict with the proximal Islamic states. The overall picture is these entities coming "against Jerusalem" for one final assault - striving to gain control of it for their capital city, and to displace all the Jews from the Land. These in a real sense are "all nations" - namely, all the nations which have fought against Jerusalem as dictated by Zechariah 14: 12.

Secondly, an illustration of His protection of His acquired Land is then given, for by close examination, we determine that all these first details are entirely separate from the more clearly defined, more concisely described events of the Gogian invasion of Ezekiel 38 and 39. Gog is an external force which brings his forces and might against the now established Kingdom of God. GOG's intellect tells it nothing of God's plan either with Israel or with the earth. Its Islamic component is jealous of the victory the God of Israel has won over their "allah," clearing the land of all God's vile enemies, and has vowed to rectify that intrusion into "their" lands.

Entirely out of hand, the Kingdom survives that inconsequential assault of the Gogian host, which is entirely destroyed and its lands punished.

Thirdly, THAT conflict is sharply delineated from the later engagement of the Christ and the Saints with the Beast, the Harlot and the False Prophet of the Apocalypse. It is apparently that event in which His extension of the Kingdom to the remainder of the world is accomplished. These are conclusively powers the forces of which, unlike the two earlier conflicts, do not come against Israel and Christ's kingdom, perhaps because they do not have time to organize for the conflict. For the Christ of the Second Advent is now ready to proclaim His gospel to all the world, beginning with the powers of Rome and Italy. Israel's Stone (King) falls upon THEM and accomplishes the destruction of the Stone of the Image's destruction in Daniel 2.

These later powers are "fallen upon BY" the Stone in His kingdom-extension to the ends of the globe, beginning with His longest-standing enemy, the Roman Establishment of the Holy See and its worldwide tentacles. In our understanding, this is Armageddon (Revelation 16; 16) well delineated, unlike the two earlier conflicts which seem more likely the Valley of Jehoshaphat campaigns.

I believe it is important for us to understand the gross differences in these conflicts, each with its unique reason for being, its unique thrust or goal, its unique mix of enemies well defined by the prophets, appearing at three different and distinct times, suffering defeat in three different ways in three different places in the earth, described in three distinct ways, bringing glory to the Father and His Son in three completely separate and sublime victories.

By such a faithful and knowledgeable exegesis each believer receives an injection of faith and spiritual courage not obtainable by any other route. Seeing His clear word stated, then fulfilled in perfect fashion before our very eyes, cannot be matched by any other body of proofs available to us! That faithful pursuit of the prophets' words cloaks the Believer with unshakeable faith in the Father of Lights and His Sun of Righteousness. It encourages him and enables him to stand firmly against the aggression and filth of the flesh around him, and to eschew evil but choose the good. And his faithful profession blesses and glorifies the holy name of Yahweh to every witness or onlooker.                                <HEL MD/USA December 2, 2012>

The eProphecy Letter 

October, 2012

Armageddon: Another Viewpoint

Jonathan Farrar,

Burlington, Ontario, Canada

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a revision to the traditional Christadelphian understanding of Armageddon.  The reason why a revision is necessary is that the traditional understanding of Armageddon is etymologically flawed, i.e., inconsistent with the underlying Hebrew grammar.  Armageddon does not mean ‘heap of sheaves in the valley of judgment.’

My thesis is that Armageddon means ‘mount of slaughter’ or ‘mount of cutting-down,’ and is a symbolic reference to the destruction of Babylon outlined towards the end of Revelation 16 and all of Revelation 17.

The Traditional Understanding of Armageddon

It is necessary to review the traditional Christadelphian understanding of Armageddon, which was developed about 150 years ago by John Thomas, and is contained in Eureka, vol. 5 (Logos edition, pp.256-259).  His explanation is partially reproduced below.

“He [Gog] now pours in upon the land of Israel like a flood; or, as Ezekiel expresses it, "he ascends and comes like a storm, like a cloud to cover the land;" with the exception of Edom, Moab and the chief of Ammon, which escape the storm. The headquarters of this storm cloud invasion from the north are between the Sea of Sodom and the Jordan on the east side, and the Mediterranean on the west; and surrounding Jerusalem; as indicated in Dan. 11:45, to wit, "he shall pitch the tents of his entrenched camp between the seas in the mountain of the glory of the Holy". In other words, he shall besiege Jerusalem; and to do this, he must occupy the Valley of Jehoshaphat, a narrow glen which runs from north to south, between the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and Mount Moriah, and through which flows the Kidron. Of this valley, it is said in Joel 3:2,12, "Yahweh will gather all the nations (that is, the forces of the nations) into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there". Yehoshaphat, in Hebrew, signifies the judgment of Yah. Joel also styles the glen, the Valley of Threshing: "Multitudes, multitudes," says he, "in the Valley of Threshing: for the Day of Yahweh is near in the Valley of Threshing". Apocalyptically, the same locality is styled ARMAGEDDON:  "And he gathered them together in a place called Hebraistically, Armageddon". Yahweh gathered them together without their perceiving the Hand that led them on to the slaughter -"I will," saith he, "gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle".

"Various derivations have been given of this mystical name; for such it is, inasmuch as there is no such name of a place in the land of Israel. Micah says, "Yahweh shall gather many nations as sheaves into the floor, that the Daughter of Zion may arise and thresh them" (ch. 4:11-13). The floor of threshing of which they are to be made the chaff (Dan. 2:35) is this Valley of Jehoshaphat. Under this aspect of things, they are a heap of sheaves, upon the threshingfloor; and this idea is represented by the word, Armah, the first two syllables of the name: the third indicates where this heap is to be, namely, in the gai valley; and the last syllable, for what purpose the heap is there, namely, for duwn judgment - Armagaidon, which in a Greek dress, is, Armageddon. The reason why the text states, that the place, or valley, is "Hebraistically" called, is to give us to understand in what country the place is situated - in the country to wit, the native language of which is the Hebrew tongue.

"And his feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, which shall cleave in twain" - "And he will plead against Gog with pestilence and with blood; and rain upon him and upon his bands, and upon the many people with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone" - Thus shall Jerusalem and the Holy Land be delivered from "the kings of the earth and of the whole habitable" confederate with Gog.”

To summarize, the traditional Christadelphian understanding of Armageddon is that the word ‘Armageddon’ means ‘heap of sheaves in the valley of judgment,’ and refers to a monumental conflict between the Gogian host of Ezekiel 38 & 39 and the Jews in Israel over the city of Jerusalem.  This conflict is said to be fought in a literal valley, the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:12).  Christ returns with the saints to intercede and defeat the Gogian host, which is thought to be the king of the north in Daniel 11:40-45.  The Gogian host will invade Israel like a “cloud to cover the land” (Ezekiel 38:9), and will surround Jerusalem to do battle (Zechariah 12:2).  Christ and the saints then defeat or “thresh” the Gogian host (Micah 4:11-13), after Christ stands on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4).

Consequences of Revising the Traditional Understanding of Armageddon

Are there any consequences to considering a revision to the traditional Christadelphian understanding of Armageddon?  Yes; there are at least two.  Although no first principle of the truth is compromised, what we expect in connection with the second coming of Christ may not be exactly as suggested by pioneer expositors, who were sincere and well-intentioned Bible students.  Also, the parallelism that is implied by the traditional understanding may be wrong.  In the traditional understanding of Armageddon, the following chapters or sections of chapters are all said to be speaking of the same event: Ezekiel 38, 39; Daniel 11:40-45; Joel 3; Zechariah 12; Micah 4; and Zechariah 14.  However, these chapters may not be speaking of the same event.

In an earlier article, I presented 20 reasons why Daniel 11:40-45 is not parallel with Ezekiel 38/39 (“Why Ezekiel 38/39 and Daniel 11:40-45 are Different Prophecies”).  Further review of these presumed “parallel” chapters will show that they are not all parallel. 

For example, a review of the context in Zechariah 12:2 shows that the nations who attack Jerusalem in 12:9 are the nations “round about” (Heb. sabiyb).  This Hebrew word means a circle, neighbor, or around.  Thus, it indicates the nations that neighbor or are contiguous to Israel, which correspond to the Arab nations of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinian territories.  Since the nations in the Gogian invasion are not “round about” Israel, Ezekiel 38/39 cannot be parallel with Zechariah 12.  The nations in the Gogian invasion are much further afield, and consist of nations like Russia, Libya, and Iran.  Furthermore, the Gogian host does not attack Jerusalem, but covers the land of Israel with the intent to take a spoil (Ezekiel 38:9, 12).  Since the nations in Zechariah 12 and Ezekiel 38/39 are different, it follows that the reasons for the conflicts are also different, which appears to be the case.

Joel 3 is another chapter that is not parallel with Ezekiel 38/39.  Joel 3:12 states, “Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.”  Here we have the same expression “round about” as occurs in Zechariah 12:2, which suggests that Joel 3 is parallel with Zechariah 12.  If we examine the context of Joel 3:12 further, we find that specific nations are mentioned, and that these nations happen to be immediate neighbors of Israel, which tends to confirm that these two chapters are parallel, since they speak of the same nations.  Joel 3:4 identifies the nations “round about” as Tyre and Zidon (i.e. Lebanon) and the coasts of Palestine (current Palestinian territories).  Joel 3:19 mentions Egypt as a desolation, and Edom (southern Jordan). 

Also, the context of Joel 3 suggests that this conflict is over Jerusalem, since the fortunes of Jerusalem are restored (v. 1), the LORD is in Jerusalem (v.16); Jerusalem becomes a holy mountain once again (v.17), and Jerusalem will last forever (v. 20).  The context of Joel 3 provides evidence that the purpose of the conflict – a battle for Jerusalem – and the nations who fight against Jerusalem – the Arab nations, i.e., the nations “round about” – are very similar to the purpose of the conflict in Zechariah 12:2 (a battle for Jerusalem), as well as the nations who fight against Jerusalem (the nations “round about”).  There is no mention of any nations around about Israel in Ezekiel 38/39, nor is there any indication that the conflict in Ezekiel 38/39 concerns Jerusalem.

Although Micah 4 does not contain the expression “round about,” the nations in this conflict are gathered against Israel because they want Jerusalem (v.11).  This fact may indicate that the latter part of Micah 4 is speaking of the destruction of the same enemies of Israel that are spoken of in Zechariah 12 and Joel 3.

Although there are different viewpoints as to whether Zechariah 14:1-3 has been fulfilled, the bulk of the chapter is unfulfilled and seems to refer to the same conflict for Jerusalem that was identified in Zechariah 12 involving the same nations.  For example, the nations who fight against Jerusalem (v.12) are the nations “round about” (v.14).  Egypt is specifically mentioned in Zechariah 14:18, and 19, which is consistent with Egypt’s identification as one of the nations “round about.”  Also, in Zechariah 14:14, the wealth of all the nations round about is gathered; Micah 4:13 also speaks of the wealth of the nations who fought against Jerusalem as being consecrated unto the LORD.  This is further evidence that Micah 4 is likely parallel with Zechariah 14, which in turn seems to be parallel with Zechariah 12 and Joel 3.  (As an aside, the wealth of all the nations round about may be the spoil and prey that prompts the Gogian invasion – Ezekiel 38:12).

Although an earthquake occurs in Zechariah 14:4, this earthquake splits the mount of Olives and causes great topographical changes in Israel (vv. 8-10).  While it is true that an earthquake or earthquakes is/are mentioned in Ezekiel 38:19 (“a great shaking in the land of Israel”), this earthquake activity occurs in the land of Israel and causes the mountains to fall down (v.20).  The earthquake activity in Zechariah 14:4 is precise as to its location (Mount of Olives) and timing (when Christ returns to the Mount of Olives), whereas the earthquake activity in Ezekiel 38:19-20 seems more widespread.

It is by no means a foregone conclusion that all of the chapters referenced in the traditional explanation of Armageddon are synonymous and parallel.  Although some seem to be parallel (Joel 3/Micah 4/Zechariah 12/Zechariah 14 speak of a battle for Jerusalem with Israel’s Arab neighbours “round about”), Ezekiel 38/39 refers to a different conflict with different nations for a different purpose, and Daniel 11:40-45 seems to have been fulfilled in 1917.

The traditional explanation of Armageddon assumes that all of the chapters mentioned above are parallel.  However, it is clear by examining the contexts that not all of them are parallel and synonymous.  If we follow this logic further with respect to Armageddon itself, then our understanding of Armageddon needs to be revisited.  To make this point slightly differently, if an understanding of Armageddon is based on the premise that Ezekiel 38/39 = Daniel 11:40-45 = Joel 3 = Micah 4 = Zechariah 12 = Zechariah 14, but the premise is incorrect, then the understanding of Armageddon that is based on this premise is incorrect.

The Etymology of Armageddon

John Thomas broke Armageddon into three words: Armah-gai-duwn (sheaves-valley-judgment).  He seems to have interpreted Armageddon this way because it fit nicely into his framework and was consistent with his understanding that nations would be gathered for battle in a valley, and then destroyed or threshed like sheaves.  While this interpretation appears plausible, it does not consider the context of Revelation 16:16, nor is it consistent with the underlying Hebrew structure of the word.

Throughout the remainder of this paper, I have consulted a number of scholarly sources with a view to understanding the underlying Hebrew word Armageddon. 

The scholar Charles Torrey indicates that the Greek word transliterated Armageddon must be divided into two words, since that is what is required by the Semitic triliteral root-structure.[1]  And, according to Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, s. 3, word stems in Semitic languages are almost invariably triliteral, i.e. composed of three consonants.  Gesenius says in s. 2, “The law of the triliteral stem is so strictly observed in the formation of verbs and nouns in Hebrew (and in the Semitic languages generally), that the language has sometimes adopted artificial methods to preserve at least an appearance of triliteralism in monosyllabic stems.”  Thus, according to these sources, Armageddon should be split into two words, one of which has a triliteral root.

Regarding triliteral roots, Hebrew scholar Max Zeldner explains what they are, and provides several examples: “The basic and fundamental structure of the Hebrew language is the triliteral ‘root’ which designates a particular action or state… The expression of different relations, meanings, and tenses of the ‘root’ word is obtained when certain letters are prefixed or suffixed to it or by the vocalizations of the root letters.  Thus the three consonants LMD which mean ‘to learn, study’, will easily be recognized in such word forms as LoMaDnu (we studied), LaMDan (a scholar), taLMiD (a pupil), taLMuD (teaching, learning).  The triliteral root KTV means ‘to write’.  From this root are derived various verbs, nouns and participles relating to writing.  Thus KaTaVti (I wrote), KoTuV (is written), KTiV (spelling), KTiVah (writing), KToVet (address, inscription), KTaV (script) and KaTaV (a correspondent).”[2]

Also, Hebrew scholar Moses Stuart notes that with respect to Semitic languages, in general, roots are triliteral, and that the greater part of the roots are verbs.[3]  According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the expression of verbal concepts by three consonants was a very old characteristic of Semitic languages, and the triliteral embodiment of a verbal concept is called ‘stem.’[4]

Although this is a very basic overview, a few key points emerge: 1) Armageddon must be split into two words, which is required by the underlying trilteral root structure; 2) the root word in the compound contains a triliteral root, i.e., three consonants; and 3) a verb underlies the triliteral root. 

Therefore, the interpretation of Armageddon as Armah-gai-duwn, i.e., an heap of sheaves in the valley of judgment, fails on these points:  there is no recognition of the underlying triliteral root structure, and there is no recognition of an underlying verb.

All the sources I consulted on the etymology of Armageddon were unanimous that Armageddon should be split into two words, Har-Mageddon (Har-Megiddon), which is consistent with the underlying triliteral root structure.  (From what I can tell, Megiddon comes from the triliteral root GDD, identified later). 

For additional assurance, on August 16, 2012, I e-mailed the Regius Professsor of Hebrew at Cambridge University, Geoffrey Khan, as well as the Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University, Hugh Williamson.  I asked them the following:

I’m hoping you can provide me with a few insights into the etymology of the word ‘Armageddon’ (Revelation 16:16).  I’ve read several academic commentaries, and there seems to be two prevailing views in terms of how the Hebrew word should be deconstructed:

1)     Har-megiddon

2)     Armah-gai-don (or Arema-gai-don)

Can you please help, and offer any insights, or direct me to some other resources?

Professor Khan replied, “The correct etymology of Armageddon is the Hebrew Har Megiddon, which literally means 'mountain of Megiddon'. Best wishes, Geoffrey Khan.”

Professor Williamson replied, “The first of your two options is certainly the correct one. (I do not recognize the second and have no idea where it  comes from.) The NT name derives from Hebrew har (mountain of) ma/egidon (Megiddo); for the spelling with an 'n' at the end, see Zechariah 12: 11. Several significant battles took place at or near Megiddo, and the death of Josiah there was especially remembered."  [Note: the 'ma/egidon' indicates that the 'ma' is a prefix and the 'egidon' (egiddon) is the root word wh ich contains the triliteral root.]

Thus, these two experts on the Hebrew language both affirm that the correct deconstruction of Armageddon is Har-Megiddon.

Megiddon – Meggido, a Literal Location in Israel?

The standard explanation for Armageddon is found in Parkhurst’s Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament, where it says that Armageddon is derived from two words, Har (mountain), and Megiddo, i.e., mountain of Megiddo. 

Scholar Hans LaRondelle wrote an article on the etymology of Har-Magedon.[5]  He identifies four views as to what Har-Magedon could mean:

1)     Mount of Slaughter; magedon can be traced back to the Aramaic stem gedad, meaning ‘to cut down, to hew down’, or the Hebrew root gadad, meaning ‘to cut, to break in upon, to penetrate’.  [GDD is the triliteral root]

2)     Har-Magedon is to be connected with Megiddo, a city in the Esdraelon plain near Mount Carmel.

3)     Har-Magedon is a Greek transliteration of har-moed, ‘Mountain of Assembly’, a reference to the celestial ‘mountain’ of God in Isaiah 14:13.  (Most scholars reject this interpretation as linguistically untenable.)

4)     Har-Magedon is a reference to Zechariah 12:11, which is the only place in the Old Testament where Megiddo appears as Megiddon.  In the Septuagint, the phrase referring to the plain of Megiddo in Zechariah 12:11 is “in the plain of the cut down”.  Thus, the Jewish translators responsible for Megiddo may have perceived the Hebrew gadad and Aramaic gedad, meaning ‘to cut down’.  (However, there are many reasons why Zechariah 12:11 cannot be alluded to in Revelation 16:16.[6])

There are several problems with the understanding of Megiddon as referring to a literal Megiddo.  First, the underlying Hebrew triliteral root seems to indicate a verb rather than a noun.  Thus, a literal place is unlikely to be referred to.  (Keep in mind that one explanation for Magedon is that it refers to a verb, i.e. to cut down, derived from the triliteral root GDD).  Second, there is no historical Mount(ain) of Megiddo.  Third, the context of Revelation 16:16 does not indicate that an enemy attacks Israel, therefore a literal Megiddo does not fit the context.

The Context of Armageddon: Revelation 16:16

At this point, we would do well to examine the context of Revelation 16:16.  Revelation 16:12-16 describes the events of the sixth vial.  The sixth vial is poured out upon the river Euphrates, which is then dried up.  Then the three unclean spirits go out of the mouths of the dragon, beast, and false prophet.  These spirits go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.  Christ returns as a thief.  Then verse 16 states, “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”  The ‘who’ that are gathered to Armageddon are the kings of the earth and of the whole world. 

Then, the seventh vial is poured out (v. 17), and in v. 19, Babylon is identified.  The whole of chapter 17 describes the demise of Babylon.  The kings of the whole earth committed fornication with her (17:2), which ties the context of Armageddon in chapter 16 with the demise of Babylon in chapter 17, since the kings of the earth are mentioned in both instances.  Babylon is identified as a woman (v.18), which sits on seven mountains (v.9).

Thus, the placement of Armageddon in Revelation 16:16 seems to have something to do with the destruction of Babylon.

If so, we might expect that Har-Megiddon is a symbolic reference to Babylon.  Since Megiddon can be traced to a Hebrew root meaning ‘to cut down’ or ‘slaughter’, Armageddon may be a symbolic reference to Babylon as a destroying mountain or mount of slaughter.

Since the book of Revelation contains the most Old Testament allusions of any New Testament book, it is likely that there is an Old Testament allusion indicated by Armageddon, especially since we know this term is of Hebrew origin. 

Several Old Testament passages tend to support the idea that Babylon is a mount of slaughter.

·    First, in Isaiah 13:14, Jeremiah 50:9, 41-42; 51:27-28, many nations are gathered against Babylon for the purpose of doing battle. 

·    Second, the kings who attack Babylon will make Babylon desolate (Jeremiah 50:13; 51:29, 37), will burn her (Jeremiah 51:25), and devour her (Jeremiah 51:34-35). 

·    Third, the gathering of the kings and nations is on the mountains (Isaiah 13:4). 

·    Fourth, Babylon itself is called a ‘destroying mountain’ which ‘destroys the whole earth’ and which will therefore be made a ‘burnt mountain’ (Jeremiah 25:15).[7] 

Thus, John’s purpose in Revelation 16:16 may be to draw attention to the fact that in Hebrew, Armageddon is a combination of ‘mount(ain)’ and something else.  The Old Testament references to the destruction of Babylon on the mountains by kings, and the reference to Babylon itself as a destroying mountain, may indicate what John had in mind by this puzzling expression, given the context in Revelation 16 and 17 of Babylon’s destruction.  Also, in Revelation 16:20, John notes that after Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath, the ‘mountains were not found’, which is contextually consistent with the symbology of Babylon’s destruction.

Conclusion

The etymology of Armageddon is to be understood from the Hebrew language (Revelation 16:16).  It comes from a triliteral root [GDD]; triliteral roots indicate an underlying verb; Megiddon comes from a Hebrew root which means ‘to cut down.’  Har-Megiddon therefore seems to indicate ‘mount of slaughter’ or ‘mount of cutting down.’  The context of Revelation 16:16 suggests that Armageddon is a reference to Babylon.  Babylon is synonymous with mountains in the context of Revelation 16 & 17, and there are references in Isaiah and Jeremiah that describe Babylon as a destroying mountain and describe kings attacking the mountains of Babylon, all of which suggest that John used the term Armageddon to signify the end-time conflict when Babylon and her false ideologies will be forever extinguished, i.e., cut down. 

Translating Armageddon as ‘heap of sheaves in the valley of judgment’ ignores the underlying triliteral root structure, does not recognize the verb or action implicit in a triliteral root, and does not recognize the context of Revelation 16.

The purpose of studying prophecy is not to vindicate the writings of any one Bible student; in fact, Paul wrote admonishing us to ‘prove all things’ (1 Thessalonians 5:21).  The purpose of studying prophecy is to glorify God, and to have our faith strengthened in the prophetic word so that when unfulfilled events do happen, we might believe (John 14:29). 

The battle for Jerusalem with the nations round about Israel has not yet occurred; the Gogian invasion has not yet occurred; the destruction of Babylon is unfulfilled.  The stage is currently being set for all of these major end-time conflicts to be fulfilled, hopefully very soon.

Jonathan Farrar

September 2012

[1] Torrey, C. (1938).  Armageddon.  The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 31, No. 3, p. 237.

[2] Zeldner, M. (1951).  You Too Can Learn Hebrew.  The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 35, No. 2, p.126-127.

[3] Stuart, M. (1823).  A Hebrew Grammar with a praxis on select portions of Genesis and the Psalms.  Andover: Codman Press, p.16.

[4] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12823-root

[5] LaRondelle, H. (1989).  Research Note: The etymology of Har-Magedon (Rev. 16:16).  Andrews Univesity Seminary Studies, Vol. 27, No. 1, 69-73.

[6] In the following article, the authors gives 7 reasons why Armageddon cannot be an allusion to Zechariah 12:11.  Jauhiainen, M. (2005).  The OT Background to Armageddon (Rev. 16:16) revisited.  Novum Testamentum XLVII, 4, p.381-393.

[7] These points are made, ibid. note 6.

The eProphecy Letter

August, 2012

 Why the Cross of Christ? PART I: The Means of Christ's Death

H E Lafferty

Scripture reading: I Corinthians 1: 17-31

The time is the Passover season, AD 29. The scene opens in The Gabbatha - Pilate's Judgment Pavement - in the Antonia Fortress, the city of Jerusalem, Province of Judaea, Empire of Rome.

A young man stands bound before Pontius Pilatus, sixth Procurator of Judaea, appointed AD 25. We know him today as Pontius Pilate. 

The most important event in the world's history after Creation itself is about to be consummated.

Pilate played a key role in the enactment which was eminently to take place. His name is mentioned 52 times in the four gospels and four other times in the scriptures. In all except one reference he is associated with the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth.

The narrative is well known, being found in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 18 and 19.

·         How the Jews  brought Jesus before Pilate, accusing Him of treason toward Tiberius Caesar, the political and religious head of the Roman Empire.

·         How Pilate, on hearing Jesus was a Galilean, sent Jesus to Herod Agrippa, then tetrarch of Galilee, who was visiting Jerusalem that very day.

·         How Herod Agrippa had wished to see a miracle by Jesus ... but instead received not one reply to his several questions and comments, finally treating Jesus with contempt, robing Him in a splendid robe and returning Him to Pontius Pilate.

·         How the long-standing feud between Pilate and Agrippa was ended that day by the capricious dallying with the life of the Son of God.

·         How Pilate judged Jesus innocent of any offense and would have released Him but for the insistent cries of "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" from the chief priests, the rulers of the Jews, requiring in His place one Barabbas, an insurrectionist and a murderer!

·         How Pilate ceremonially washed his hands of the whole affair, and (in addition to at least five other independent observers) proclaimed Jesus innocent and "just."

·         How the soldiers of Rome then stripped Him, and placed a scarlet robe upon Him, placed a thorny crown upon His head and a reed scepter in His hand, all he while bowing in mockery and blasphemy, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" - spitting upon Him and striking Him on His head.

·         How Jesus was mercilessly flayed with a many-tailed whip, leaving His body torn, bruised and bleeding profusely.

·         And how, finally, they took the scarlet robe away and put upon Him His own clothes - and "led Him away to crucify Him."

And so it came to pass that the Lord Jesus humbly submitted ... bound and bleeding ... humiliated by the pagan spittle that ran down, unwiped, from His weary features, and by the blood issuing from the thorny scalp wounds(now dried and clotting about His face and neck), that He now stumbled wearily through the narrow streets of Jerusalem, followed by a countryman, Simon of Cyrene, bearing the tree upon which Jesus would be hanged by the public roadside with other malefactor in that horrible, onerous, terrifying, excruciating, repugnant, fatal rite of Roman crucifixion.

                                 CRUCIFIXION: an English translation of Greek stauroo, meaning

                                 to impale on a stake - an inhuman act causing the victim's painful

                                    demise in extremely slow and painful stages of thirst, dehydration,

                                 physical and nervous exhaustion, continuous but slow blood loss,

                                tachycardia, labored hyperpnea, slowffocation and cardiopulmonary

                                collapse. 

Dear fellow students, please consider with me for a while some of the terrible details of the physical suffering of Jesus, as He was stripped naked before all, was nailed to the tree which was roughly placed upright in a post-hole, and forced to hang beside the public roadway until death came to Him several hours later.

We intend also to address ourselves to the topical discussion of WHY this unique sacrifice was necessary and the eternal benefits that accrued to both our Lord and to His followers as a result.

The account of his suffering and death may not be suitable for the weak-hearted reader - but it strongly needs review and close study on our parts, leading perhaps to our far greater appreciation of Jesus' death than heretofore.

Our first consideration will be the instrument of death itself - the "cross." The Greek word from which this word derives is stauros, and means a "stake" or "pole" set upright, according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Lexicon of the Bible.  It evidently later came also to mean a "cross," as well - that is, two pieces of timber: a shorter piece fixed across a longer, upright pole near the top of the pole. However, no author contemporary with any of the Biblical writers mentions a device of torture and death of this kind; they mention only the vertical stake or tree, similar to a small telegraph pole, upon which victims were crucified.

Bullinger, in The Companion Bible, Appendix 162, notes, "our English word cross is the translation of the Latin crux; but the (original) Greek stauros no more means a "crux" (or cross) than the word "stick" means "crutch."  "Stauros," he says, "never means two pieces of timber placed across one another at any angle, but always one piece, alone." Further, Bullinger quotes the 19th century writings of Mrs. Jameson, her Famous History of Our Lord as Exemplified in Works of Art:

"It must be owned (or, admitted)" she wrote, "that ancient objects of art, as far as hitherto known, afford no corroboration of the use of the 'cross' in the simple transverse form familiar to us, at any period preceding, or even closely succeeding, the time of Chrysostom.'"

The cross, then, as we know it - as a Christian symbol - was not adopted until about 400 years after Jesus' death! It was not recorded as being known in this sector of the world as an instrument of death in His day. So Bullinger concludes: "The evidence is thus complete, that the Lord was put to death upon an upright stake, and not on two pieces of timber placed at any angle."

Why is this fact important?

 Historical accuracy is desirable, of course; but I believe its importance also lies in the physical stress inflicted by one instrument of death as opposed to the other. Physiologically speaking, death should come to the victim more slowly if his hands were fastened directly above his head rather if extended at almost 90 degrees to his major body axis. Another important consideration is the amount of flogging to which the victim had been subjected prior to crucifixion - a factor directly relating to rapidity of blood loss, and hence rapidity of death.

 But what is behind this statement? w         hat difference might the angle of His arms make during crucifixion?

 From the physiological standpoint, there are three muscular systems involved in normal respiration, by which I mean " breathing:" (1) the pulmonary diaphragm, (2) the intercostal  muscles, and (3) the supraclavicular muscles.

For clarification of these, a simple description of each is:

(1) The pulmonary diaphragm is the large dome-shaped set of muscles dividing the thorax from the abdomen, which, when contracted, increases the capacity of the chest cavity resulting in an inflow of air to the lungs. It should be noted that ALL muscles do their active work by contracting. Relaxation of these allows the opposite effects but do not cause them.

(2) The intracostals are muscles which connect each rib to its neighbor. Activation of these shortens the distance between the ribs and decreases the chest cavity, expelling air. Relaxation of these also allow chest expansion and the inflow of air to the lungs. But expulsion of air is necessary for one to take his next breath.

(3) The supraclaviculars are those muscles attached to the collar bones (clavicles) stretching the short distance backward toward the shoulders and acting as a cover, in a sense, for the lungs. The contraction of these muscles also aids chest expansion, and therefore breathing. The supraclaviculars also lift the sternum to which is attached many of the ribs, thus increasing the chest cavity to let in atmospheric air. This action enhances the action of the diaphragms.

 The result is that the lungs expand rapidly and efficiently, in concert with the entire chest cavity, causing an inflow of atmospheric air (passively) into the lungs where the oxygen from the atmosphere is absorbed for "respiration" upon the appropriate binding sites in the hemoglobin of the red blood cells passing continuously through the capillary blood vessels of the lung - a marvelous, complex, finely balanced mechanism for supplying oxygen to the estimated twenty five trillion cells in the adult Homo sapiens.

 Now ... a bit of clarification of "respiration."  We generally think of respiration as breathing in and out - or the number of breaths we take per minute, e.g., the patient's respiration rate is 15 (meaning breaths per minute); even medical professionals use the term in this way.

 But "respiration" is not breathing but something entirely different, and bears incisively upon the subject of this research paper.

Respiration in the most profound sense takes place at the cell level of each person, where the oxygen-laden red blood cells pass relatively slowly through the tiny capillary blood vessels (several of which are located adjacent to every cell in the body), releasing their molecules of oxygen only to those cells which are saturated with carbon dioxide, and therefore have a critical need to replace their oxygen. [Actually, the cell's MOST critical "need" is to expel the carbon dioxide produced by metabolism; this need is also the greatest stimulus to "breathing" as this is the mechanism by which CO2 is expelled from the body.]

 At the same moment, carbon dioxide, which is the waste product produced in the ongoing metabolism of each cell, is released to those vacated binding sites in the hemoglobin of the red cells. The exchange of these gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide) is relatively instantaneous and entirely in balance with each other - one molecule of O2 being exchanged for one molecule of CO2 - exquisite!

 Now the red cells carrying their burden of CO2 pass onward through the capillaries into the venous return system leading back to the heart and lungs for repetition (in reverse)  of the entire process. When those carbon dioxide-laden red cells reach the lungs they pass adjacent to the alveoli of the lungs - millions of minute, hollow, cul-de-sacs within the lungs where the opposite transaction takes place by the marvelously simple but delicately balanced principle of differential vapor pressures of the two gases - another entirely passive exchange! This carbon dioxide which is released to the atmospheric air within the alveoli is now exhaled to the atmosphere and dissipates into its vast ocean of mixed gases.

But why are all THESE facts important?

 Because they aid our understanding of the deeply personal crisis which was suffered by the Lord as He hung upon the tree of death.

When a person is nailed to a pole with both hands above his head (without the transverse timber), he or she suffers extreme compromise of the breathing functions much more than if crucified with arms outstretched at near 90 degrees. In the overhead position, the intracostal muscles and the supraclavicular muscles are stressed to capacity and cannot function efficiently. They are essentially fixed in the inhalation state.

This forces one's breathing to be carried out entirely by the pulmonary diaphragms. That is, with the remaining two muscle systems fixed in the inhalation state, exhalation would become extremely difficult. Breathing by diaphragmatic action would be shallow and labored - heavily  inefficient. The additional insult of blood loss through flogging, the nail-punctures, and the crown of thorns added to this respiratory failure would hasten death to any healthy, thirty three year old male, in a reasonably short time. Indeed the most important compromise was that of blood loss. His profound respiratory alteration was but a secondary, enhancing effect of the process.

It has been conjectured by some that the Lord Jesus was crucified with nails driven through his arms  just above his wrists. The reason given (first) for this notion has been that the Hebrew word for "hand" can also mean all the lower arm and hand. Also, (second) that the human hands could  not bear the weight of the victim's body if each were pierced by a single nail (the nail would tear through the flesh and allow the crucified one to fall from the cross), if indeed he had been impaled upon a traditional cross, with the arms extended at near 90 degrees to each side.

As to first claim above, I cannot dispute it, not being an Hebrew scholar of any repute. But it really doesn't make any difference whether the root word means only "hands," or "hands and lower arms," for I believe it to be consistent with all other facts only if the Lord was fastened to the stake by a (single) spike through his hands (palms) and another through both his feet for specific typical reasons ... a theological significance not fulfilled or supported by the generally understood process of crucifixion.

In my simple understanding, the nail must have pierced His HANDS (palms - passing between the metacarpal bones) and His feet in similar manner (passing between the metatarsal bones, none of which were broken) in order for the typical symbology of His death to have been fulfilled. 

What symbols seem indicated?

The murderers of  Christ (whether they consciously intended it to be so we cannot be sure) were not only literally, but symbolically destroying everything about our Lord; His AUTHORITY by draping Him in the mock royal robe; His WORKS (by piercing His hands); His WALK, or example of conduct (by piercing His feet); and even His MIND (by piercing his head with the crown of thorns); and his LIFE (by the spear piercing His heart). Their desire was TOTAL DESTRUCTION of this defenseless, perceived insurrectionist. Their methodology, whether planned or by caprice, was designed to fulfill that desire by the most agonizing, degrading, method available to them - by impaling Him upon an upright tree following His long night of betrayal, terror, beatings, flaying, mocking, spitting, and crowning with thorns - thus in their fallow minds putting Him away from them permanently and forever.

 But in the end their actions attested forever and eternally (and extremely ironically) His TRUE PURPOSE AND DESTINY in their hastily improvised logo attached to the tree above His head: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, in Hebrew, Greek and Latin - the three foremost languages of "the world" at that time!

As to the second statement "that the human hands could  not bear the weight of the victim's body if each were pierced by a single nail (the nail would tear through the flesh and allow the crucified one to fall from the cross)," I must say that here lies a supplementary reason for believing that He was impaled upon an upright stake - a "tree" (Acts 5: 30; 10: 39; Galatians 3: 13).

 As one having personally dissected the human hands of cadavers, one readily finds, even in the aged specimen, a sturdy, well attached network of ligaments and muscles interlaced and unifying the hand crosswise into a durable, tough, marvelously complex appendage.

 Nevertheless, sturdy as it is, we can readily agree with the premise of that statement that a single nail would tear through the flesh and allow the victim to fall in a "traditional" crucifixion - a universally misappropriated myth depicted thousands of times a week in every place.  If one be crucified with arms at the 90 degree angle as envisioned on the Catholic cross, the gravitational forces acting upon the hands would be multiplied by the body's weight by several magnitudes due to the simple, magnifying force vectors.

 In the other case of a vertical pole, fastening the hands above the head would result in a direct, simple pull towards gravity, and far less downward force upon the nail piercing the palms. The hands could easily bear the weight of their owner's body in that case as the vectors are lessened greatly. The tearing would not occur as the human hand can easily withstand these forces. A similar situation is often seen in slaughterhouses where entire hogs (of 300 or 400 pounds) are hung with facility by hooks placed under the Achilles tendon of their posterior hooves, and their bodies exposed for further processing by the meat cutters - a process also personally experienced by a young man who early in his life worked in a meat packing plant. This procedure is the same as hanging on a vertical stake.

Please now allow me a note of caution to readers. If you are squeamish in considering the grisly procedures and physiological effects of crucifixion you may want to scan the following paragraphs lightly and go on to the remainder of the article. I apologize for offending anyone, but these finer details really should be considered by everyone who is truly interested in his own redemption and the blood sacrifice which "purchased" it (Acts 20: 28).

 The brutal scourging of Jesus and the thorn-crown probably contributed to blood loss more than the other factors. As every physician and nurse is aware, the scalp is especially vulnerable to puncture wounds and lacerations; it bleeds profusely from tearing or puncture of the concentrated network of blood vessels located there. The final insult would have been the two nails fastening Him to the tree.

This catastrophic, protracted blood loss would be the eventual cause of death in His case. Even moderate but steady blood volume reduction sets in motion an evil spiral of events leading relentlessly downward to cardiovascular shock, and death directly attributable to that blood loss.

The mechanism is simple - and irreversible without blood transfusion: in steadily occurring blood loss, the sensory, mechanical and hormonal mechanisms for stabilizing blood pressure come forcibly into play striving to maintain normal blood pressure. Perspiration increases greatly, increasing the depletion of water from the body and the blood. As blood volume is steadily lost from the cardiovascular tree, the effect of a gradually increasing heart rate (number of beats per minute) is initiated, leading soon to tachycardia (a very rapid, inefficient rate of heart contractions).

At the same time, the arterial blood vessels are prompted hormonally to contract in order to maintain normal pressure by narrowing these passageways. With moderate blood loss these measures are sufficient - but not when catastrophic blood loss is being experienced as in the case of Jesus' death.

There are other mitigating factors. During this progressing catastrophe, the physical loss of millions of red cells with their oxygen-carrying capacity causes the body progressively to experience relative asphyxia. At first, this is countered by the above two mechanisms.

 Now, increasingly rapid breathing (tachypnea) is harnessed to increase the flow of air into and out of the lungs in an attempt to expose the red cells passing through the lungs to a more abundant supply of aerial oxygen.

 We behold in this entire, horrible episode a vicious downward spiral of circumstances and effects as a swirling, evil fugue of events lead the victim nearer and nearer to death.

 For, now the remaining function of the diaphragms, compromised as it would be, markedly decreases, losing the battle of simple breathing, further lowering the gas exchanges which need to occur within the lungs.

The result is death from blood loss leading to asphyxiation. By the shedding of His blood His life was forfeited for not only our sakes, but also His own redemption, in that marvelous, mysterious matrix of self-sacrifice so vividly exhibited in the death of God's Only Begotten Son.

 Although we cannot be sure of this, Jesus was probably bound with thongs up until the time that He was nailed to the tree. There would be no compelling need to unbind Him even then, as one single nail would have been used to impale both hands to the tree (one hand behind the other). As I, you may have been privileged to observe a Roman crucifixion nail. A lecturer from Britain who I heard several years ago found such a nail on his property and exhibited it during his talk. I report to you that it was about 14 inches long (35 cm), slightly curved, and reasonably sharp at the tip and blunt on the upper end. Its squarish cross-sectional dimensions would be somewhat smaller than a common railway spike.

Such a metal shaft could just pierce an human hand between the metacarpal bones, leaving them pressed apart but unbroken - a stipulated feature of Jesus' crucifixion (John 19: 36).

So the awful procedure begins. The Roman soldiers who performed the actual deed towered menacingly over the prostrate Savior, Whose naked skin would bear the bruises, cuts and abrasions of the previous beatings, would be further scraped and injured by the stones and gravel of the site where He lay. They roughly drag Him into position next to the stake, positioning His hands - aligning them with the timber - placing the iron spike in position to be driven home by the heavy sledge.

 The first crushing blows upon the spike would pierce His palms, tearing His flesh and rupturing arteries and veins, allowing the spike to enter the tree. Several more blows would secure His hands to the tree well enough to support His weight with ease.

 Likewise, they position His feet upon the timber with His legs bent far enough to flatten the feet on the tree; possibly a single nail was used in the feet as well, although we cannot be certain. In the same manner, the slender spike would press apart the metatarsal bones of the feet, leaving them unbroken, but tearing the tissues and blood vessels in additional insult to Him, staining the tree with His life fluids. One can imagine the unbearable effect of raw iron on  tens of thousands of sensory nerves. The pain is not comparable to any we have ever experienced.

The Centurion now gives his order:  "Raise the pole into place."

 Jesus and the tree are now raised into the vertical position and carried to a nearby hole prepared to receive the stake. The pole is roughly dropped into the hole, the wrenching, tearing force of His own body weight  and of gravity brings renewed waves of unbearable pain. The pole is adjusted to vertical, and the space around the stake filled with dirt and debris so it stands solitarily and starkly against the morning sky, bearing this antitypical brass serpent upon the pole of Moses in the wilderness  (cf. Numbers 21:8).

 In this agonizing manner, the Lord begins His arduous sojourn upon the stake of death. His sentence is being carried out before throngs of the people standing perhaps only yards away from Him. Crucifixions always drew large crowds of curious onlookers as well as friends and family of the condemned one.

 From the first moment His breathing is compromised and labored. He begins the long process described above as the sun rises higher in the east toward noon on this Day of Preparation.

Mercifully, His hands and feet become almost numb to the injuries. His feet, nailed flatly to the tree, are in no position to bear much of His body weight, so almost His entire weight hangs from the nail above His head, incessantly stretching every joint and ligament in His arms and shoulders with added insult and pain.

The sky was clear at the third hour (9 a.m.) when He was placed upon the tree. But at noon (the sixth hour) an awful, foreboding darkness fell over the entire land. This supernatural darkness, occurring on the 14th of Nisan, could not have been a solar eclipse; these cannot occur in the midst of a solar month as the moon at that phase (the full moon) is on the other side of the earth at the noon hour. The darkness was thick and pervasive - and lasted until the ninth hour (3 p.m.) when His ordeal was finished.

Finally, His suffering, His pain and death were consummated.  Jesus' last words before He expired were, It is finished! But He meant something far more significant than an end to His suffering and anguish. In these words, He pronounced the completion of His life-long work of sacrifice, redemption, and justification from sin. It was His entire, lofty Mission of faith, obedience, instruction and sacrifice that had been accomplished.

Two malefactors were crucified in the same manner as Jesus. The soldiers broke their legs seeking to hasten their deaths. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that He was dead already, so they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers, seemingly at a whim, pierced his side with a lance. From the wound poured forth "blood and water," (what appeared to be water).

What does this phrase mean ... blood and water? When circulation of blood ceases for even a short time, the "formed elements" of the blood (the red cells, the white cells and the platelets) drop out of suspension in the plasma and settle toward gravity. The relatively clear supernatant fluid is plasma, which could be construed as "water." Plasma is the transportation medium for all the formed elements of the blood and makes up its largest volume. It seems credible that the spear pierced either one or both ventricles of Jesus' heart. These are the larger two cavities of the four cavities of the heart, and contain from 100 to 120 cubic centimeters of blood in an adult person. The appearance of "blood and water" indicates that Jesus had deceased some time before this incident for His blood had had time to undergo the separation of the blood cells from the plasma, thus appearing to be two different elements.

For some unknown reason, some have conjectured  that Jesus died of a broken heart. We can be assured, however, that is not the case! Jesus died purely and conclusively of BLOODSHED. The fatal shedding of His blood was absolutely the central and effectual feature of this phase of His sacrifice for the sin of the world. That blood shedding was also the CAUSE of His death. A "broken heart" is not a physical event but a romantic one, usually relating to rejection in "affairs of heart," the origin of the phrase.

We know well the rest of the story. Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus took the corpse of the Lord and buried it hastily in Joseph's newly hewn tomb; in three days that tomb was again vacant, as He had risen from the dead - had risen to life eternal, walking out of the tomb, then passing out of death into Life, having then shed both the clothing and nature of death and dying, taking up the clothing and nature of immortality - life evermore.

I trust that you will agree that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, on the tree at Golgotha illustrated the sort of death Adam deserved after his original transgression in Eden. If God, in fury and in judgment, had immediately executed the sentence upon Adam and Eve that day, their lives should have ended forever; for God had made for them, as yet, no provision for escape from death.

In the A. V., Genesis 2: 7 reads, in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. From this statement we learn that in their present condition both of them were capable of dying, but not subject to death. But marginal renderings in most texts show an alternative rendering: dying, thou shalt die. Since Adam and Eve did not die that very day, we know that God meant to convey to them this meaning: in the day you eat of it, you shall surely become a dying creature. The sentence was one, then, of impending death at some future time as a result of a change in their natures; they had become mortal, which means "subject to death."

 But the sentence was still an open-ended one. It had no term of sentence attached - that is, no provision for an end to the death state they would enter - no future time was stated when they might rise from the dead or live again. The sentence, as it stood, was to eternal death for both.

 Our fervent thanksgiving ascends to our heavenly Father that a means of escape was later provided; that an acceptable Sacrificed was promised to deliver them (and us) from death. The harbinger of that Sacrifice is readily seen in the coats of skin used to clothe Adam and Eve after they had sinned, which required the shedding of the blood of the animals which furnished the skins. Sacrifice and shedding of blood became the typical pointers toward that Sacrifice that lay millennia beyond Adam's day.

 It is seen also in the immediate promise (Genesis 3: 15) which God made to the serpent, which represented sin, concerning the Seed of the woman, that though the serpent principle should bruise His heel, (which is to injure Him) He should bruise thy head (or, destroy sin) - And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Sin's infliction upon Christ of his particular death was this bruising ... a non-fatal infliction in the eternal sense, because He rose up from its effects and stood forth again in radiant life!

Part two of this paper will consider the eternal consequences of Jesus' sacrifice, and furnish scriptural reasons for the effects we propose.        [End Part One]

The eProphecy Letter

September, 2012

H E Lafferty

Why the Cross of Christ? Part Two: The Eternal Effects of His Sacrifice

Returning, then, to that future time of 29 AD and that stark event at Golgotha - the "place of the skull" outside Jerusalem's stone ramparts - we see a representation of the death legally deserved by all mankind, and prior to Jesus' resurrection, the finality of it. That heinous sentence carried out upon the person of the Lord showed death in its most terrible and horrifying aspects. It clearly illustrated the fate from which none can return without  dramatic and benevolent assistance from the Father.

 The resurrection of Christ illustrated the supreme power and the pervasive grace of our heavenly Father in His willingness to reverse our ill fortune and bring certain ones back to life - to a better and more sure existence, led by the first begotten of the dead, Jesus of Nazareth. 

The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to Corinth, chapter two, verse two, states: I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. It is the mission statement of Paul, who came not to Corinth bearing the wisdom of men, the arguments and reasoning of Plato and the philosophers, or with the logic of humanists; he came to preach only of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. (Living Bible)

 In these simple terms, Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, Paul expressed the central kernel, the core truth of God's redemptive Plan - of the entire, grand scheme of the atonement! When we really understand  - when we perceive - what is meant by, and involved in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, we are well on our way toward an overall appreciation of where mankind as a  race came from, where it is now, and where it is destined to be.

That determination shall be exciting and absorbing; it shall be challenging and rewarding; and its pursuit results in life eternal for those who are diligent. It is a pursuit which is weighty but meaningful to seeking men and women, and contains the keys of His everlasting kingdom on the earth.

We can search out the keys to  Jesus Christ, and Him crucified by a careful consideration of the origins of our race in the book of Genesis - the book of our beginnings. To find out where we are, we need briefly to trace where we came from ... how we arrived at our present circumstance. From that point it will be no great mystery to determine where we may be going if we utilize the great guidebook in its profound depth and span with intelligence, and with utmost concern for truth.

We here are mere men and women. Jesus, though God was His Father, was also a man. Indeed, he was as Peter declared in Acts 2: 22, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you.

There are two relevant facts in this consideration - overarching truths which we must recognize: We live our lives ... and die. Jesus lived His life too ... and died.

Halting our consideration at that point, what do we know about why we die? Of course we suffer accidents or die of degenerative disease or acute illnesses. Having no personal means of extending our lives we expire. We would like to live much longer, in good health. We would like to live forever - in happiness, in peace and in prosperity. But of ourselves, that is impossible.

 So we perish.  All of us perish, without exception.

 But why? How did all this come about?

Well, as already hinted at, things fell apart at the very beginning of our history.

 In Genesis one, everything the Lord God had created was pronounced very good. On the sixth day of creation, His greatest work was accomplished (Genesis 1: 27). When He created man in His own image: male and female, created He them.

 In Genesis two, a recapitulation of the creation of man and woman is included, giving more details ... things were still very good.

 In Genesis three, evil enters the idyllic garden as the serpent comes to tempt Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - the forbidden object of the one commandment given the man and the woman in the garden.

 Now, lies always hurt someone.  But the serpents lie harmed everyone ... billions of living beings through the thousands of years of this era. The serpent asked Eve if God had commanded them to eat of NONE of the trees in that remarkable paradise of God. You probably know this story well - but let's rehearse it just a bit further.

 Eve replied, No; we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath  said 'Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.'

 The blatant, pleasant sounding lie that followed may sound familiar to us in other contexts than this. You probably have heard it repeated over and over innumerable times. A time traveler should have heard it repeated numerous times in Babylon of old, whose priests philosophized "Uga nevo-su septz elmutka" - Thou shalt NOT surely die, for does not Nimrod teach that you live eternally because your soul is immortal and cannot die?

 Before the funerary conveyance of young King Tutankhamen of the 18th dynasty of Egypt, the intoned phrase might have been "Mehemet hotep urk hmnrn"  (He is not dead but lives on) as the rich procession of gold and provisions of garments, food, weapons, means of transport, and other amenities of an expected future life of the king passed toward his tomb. The subsequent unearthing of this king's death-legacy is astounding in its provision for his eternal . too - long since decayed by the passage of eons, his life given up completely in his youth.

 The lie is attractive, and full of hope for those dying as well as his anguished survivors. It was repeated generation among those who knew not God - in Sumer and in Nineveh as surely as in Troy, Alexandria and Athens; in Spain as in India. In the pagan Nordic realms of Europa as in Cush and Ethiopia, Libya and Persia. Among the native peoples of North America as well as South, and even the aboriginals of Australia and New Zealand - among the ancients of Kurdistan as well as those who dwelt in the chilly wastes of eastern Asia. In the 30th century BC as surely as in the 21st century AD. Among rich and poor, among rural and urban dwellers; by philosophers and diviners, by seers, by poets. by humanists ... and by theologians alike! The lie is a sentence of five simple, innocent, hopeful words in English:

Thou shalt not surely die!

 What an audacious serpent! In Genesis 2: 17, God had said,

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.

The subtle serpent entirely negated the words of the faithful and true Almighty One.

Thou shalt NOT surely die, he hissed! With these false words of hope, taking effect in her mind, our common mother began to regard the evil tree with more accommodating eyes. Soon it appeared ...  Good for food, Pleasant to the eyes, and A tree desired to make her wise. The woman partook of the fruit and ate, giving it also to her husband, our common father, and he did eat.  We here behold the stark and blatant elements of all sin: the lust of the flesh (good for food), the lust of the eye (pleasant to the eyes) and the pride of life (a tree desired to make her wise) as precisely cited by the apostle in I John 2: 16.

And so it came to pass that a simple transgression of the only law they had been given brought ruin upon the man and the woman - and upon all their issue to come as well as upon all creation.

The universal, primordial test of man- and woman-kind had been concluded. Our fist parents failed completely! And Then God pronounced the conclusive sentence upon them: Genesis 3: 19: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.

From that day ... actually from that very hour ... Adam and Eve were constituted mortal, which means "subject to death." There was no uncertainty now about their destinies. That moment began their long descent to sheol - to the grave - to the dust of death, to oblivion, to "man's long home" as Solomon describes the grave in Ecclesiastes 12: 5.

Consequently, we of today, being their direct descendants share that destiny, just as we share their natures. Of course that is not the received wisdom. We hear it said today at every funeral service almost without exception: "This dear departed one is not dead, as he/she appears, but is in heaven, beholding our sorrow." Or, "This dear deceased brother has merely preceded us into the vaults of heaven where he now has infinite joy and happiness and knowledge and life - he has just gone to be with God."    In shorter words: Thou shalt not surely die!  

These principles are vain, human philosophy. The Apostle Paul's Spirit-inspired words agree with NONE of these. For example, in Romans 5: 112, he tells us ... by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world; and death, by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.

That straightforward statement puts is simply: it records our past, and clearly shows our future. We all die! No exceptions. For in death, there is no remembrance of Thee; in the grave, who shall give Thee thanks? (Psalm 6: 5)

For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 9: 5)

Thou shalt surely die ...  not live on in greater joy and awareness!

Now, what about Jesus Christ? Was He a man? Wasn't God His Father? Untutored people say, "Wouldn't that make Him inherit God's nature? - undying? Doesn't the Bible refer to Him as God the Son? How could He die, since God can't die? Why did He have to die, if He did?

We view those questions as entirely relevant to the subject, "Why the Cross of Christ?"

So let's think about it for a few moments ...

Either we believe what the scriptures say about the death of Jesus, or we make up our own brand of theology. Only if we follow God's prescribed way can we have life. If we make up our own, we duplicate the failure of Adam and Eve, who made up their own behavioral code and caused millennia of untold suffering and death.

We have reviewed the accounts of the death of Jesus - how He suffered and died on the tree at Calvary. In that dying, He shed His own blood copiously and fatally. Paul tells us in Acts 20: 23, that He ... purchased with His own blood  those who would be His called-out ones (Greek: ekklesia) - those who would choose to take their own crosses and follow Him!

Was Jesus a man, then? He certainly was! He was a man approved of God among you as noted earlier. He is never referred to as "God the Son," but is named scores of times, "the Son of God" - two entirely different identities. It was the very voice of the Father Himself which boomed forth as thunder when He emerged from the waters of His baptism, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased! (Matthew 3: 17)

Yes, He was the Son of God - the ONLY begotten Son of His Father (John 3: 16); but His nature was inherited from His natural mother, Mary the Virgin, and was dominant in His makeup. Hebrews 2: 14-18 defines what we have seen - that death (its absolute necessity) passed upon all men, which includes Jesus Christ. The writer of the book of Hebrews sums it up:

Hebrews 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16  For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17  Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18  For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.

Yes ... God was His Father. But the scriptures indicate He did not inherit His Father's nature (immortality) but that of His mother, and of her mortal line all the way back to Adam, for He was Adam's son as well, and therefore his Seed. Though having committed NO sin, He bore the constitution of sin's nature; and death was for Him as well as for us, a necessity. The writer to the Hebrews, again, so informs us: Hebrews 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9  And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

 The verse previous to this passage (verse 7) also confirms that ... in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared. In this verse, the wear "from" is the Greek ek, meaning "out of," which means in this context, NOT "from experiencing" death  but bringing Him back from the death state, or resurrection by His Father.

 Indeed! Though He occupied the very privileged office of God' Son, He occupied the same position of mortality as all the rest of Adam's children. He too was not only capable of dying, but he was subject to death. However, He did not passively wait for death to overtake Him. Instead, He busied Himself with His Father's work - He was about His Father's business as He told his mother in Luke 2: 49. That business was the work of redemption - His Special Mission among His fellow men.

 Hebrews, again, (in 7: 27) informs us that, unlike priests under the law of Moses, who had to offer up sacrifices daily, first for themselves and then for the sins of the people, that This He did once, when He offered up Himself.

Passively waiting for death not redemptive, and could have been so, for Himself NOR for His people. Actively placing Himself before the authorities in his magnificently visible profile of activity, He was always and without exception faithful to God's commandments. Invariably and relentlessly preaching salvation and the forgiveness of sins of repentant ones, and vigorously showing Himself an example of godliness and true holiness, He displayed a visible, rational pattern for others to follow. Depriving Himself of sleep and rest in order to preach the gospel to all who would hear, He showed himself in every way to have NO affinity whatever with the established forces of evil and darkness. 

Consistently sacrificing those things that might have pleased His human tendencies in favor of the things of the Spirit, thus our wonderful Savior pressed forward toward the ultimate horror and repugnance of His own death on the stake - an event to which He would willingly subject Himself in order that He might bring abundant life and happiness into the realms of possibility for His brethren AND Himself. This was the only way that had been ordained by His Father for Him personally to reverse the effects of Adam's transgression ... and to bring justification of all who would avail themselves of this opportunity.

In Genesis 3: 15, one of the most significant and enlightening statements in all the scriptures is made by the Lord God. there, in pronouncing a sentence on the serpent (which represents the sin principle: diabolos) for his role in the  transgression of our prime parents, which brought death to all their progeny: He said I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.

In natural circumstances, an heel-wound is generally considered hurtful but not certainly fatal as to extinction. It would be an inconvenience, for the Almighty was speaking here of spiritual events manifested in physical consequences. The "Seed of the Woman" was to be bruised in the heel by the seed of the serpent (which was sin). That Seed of the Woman, of course, was to be Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who died in a violent, accursed manner being bitten by His own sin constitution in common with all other men. Bitten by sin although not by sinning. His confinement in the tomb because of sin's effects was terminated in three days and three nights as He triumphed over sin and death being dramatically and eternally transported back from the death and the grave by His Father.

However, in the act of receiving the heel-wound directly from sin, He brought to final completion His life-long battle against sin, the battle He had waged night and day for thirty three and an half years was obviously won when He triumphantly and eternally walked forth past the stone barrier that had been rolled away. In His own person He had delivered blow after fatal blow upon evil and sin. He never succumbed to temptation in His career among men but subjected sin to the power and  majesty of His Father, working mightily in Him  ...that, through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil (diabolos).  This simple, straightforward language definesHis own total domination of the sin principles of His own mortality.

In offering Himself, that Being who had never been tainted by an act of sin, but Who had been always victorious over temptation - he actually reversed the death-dealing process resulting from Adam's transgression ... the Fall that had passed without exception upon all men including Himself, and through death and subsequent resurrection had destroyed the death-giver. Each time sin raised an evil tentacle toward Him He cut off that threat, never giving in to sin in any form. And so, sin, represented by the seed of the serpent, received the fatal head-wound it had been promised, and was eradicated in one man, Christ Jesus, by His perfect life and sacrifice.

Now, from among that vast pool of humanity the Spirit is still seeking those who wish to be included in His household - a special, holy cadre of men and women who are being called out of Adam's posterity, from among those who, without exception, in their mere natural state, are under compulsory sentence of death, to life, in Jesus Christ. All those who so elect may enter freely into the sheepfold as He said: but they must enter through Him Who is The Door and The Way.

In brief summary, we trust that the facts we have considered in this paper, and the scriptural passages cited have illustrated clearly to readers WHY the cross of  Christ was absolutely necessary in our Father's plan with man and the earth. The Master was relentlessly and graciously prepared to be an acceptable sacrifice for sin's absolute eradication throughout His brief life, which culminated in His death by crucifixion. Though made in the identical nature as that of His brethren, with all the same propensities and desired of mortality, HIs entire life was one continuous sacrifice - a giving up of all his fleshly tendencies to do any evil act. It was a magnificent, continuing progression in the things of the Spirit, consistently preparing that body, that vessel, for sacrifice.

It is evident that God loved His Son - His only begotten Son. He also loves the world in the sense of having compassion upon that forlorn, lost, dying race. His own Spirit-begotten Son was a bona fide member of that race. So, in His infinite love and mercy, our heavenly Father allowed man's redemption to take place in the specific and precise and beautiful and loving way that it has been worked out and shown to us by His infinite grace!

These wonderful things of the Spirit aren't subject to much attention by the world. Men and women have more immediate and compelling interests such as eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, buying and selling; entertainment  and daily vocation seem much more important and immediate - pursuing life and liberty and imagined happiness.

How markedly different is the offering of our God! How exalted is His high calling!  How intensively desirable His election; how compellingly magnetic His love and mercy; how wonderful  and redeeming the hope of eternal life in Christ! How worth our consistent effort, or intense concentration, or fervent desire, our diligent cultivation of faith - that we might be accorded an abundant entrance into His coming kingdom, with life everlasting ours - just for a diligent, mature, focused effort to accept and live for his eternal Purpose!

Our mission - and the true vocation of all those whose ears are attuned to God's word and plan - is that stated by Paul, the apostle, in I Corinthians 1: 17-31

   For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 8  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.  <HEL>

The eProphecy Letter

July, 2012

ISAIAH 49  A Survey

Verse 1 – Isaiah, under Spirit inspiration, speaks directly for the LORD (YHVH):Listen O isles unto Me; and hearken ye people from far: the LORD hath called Me from the womb; from the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My name. 

Being addressed to  the isles and ye people from far shows His concern for the far-flung peoples of the whole earth as well as His chosen people, Israel. His message is urgently vital to both groups.

The 49th chapter of Isaiah, read as a discrete revelation of our Father’s will, is one of the scripture’s most comprehensive and detailed prophecies of Messiah and His mission. Its language is cloaked in Hebraisms and complex corollaries, illuminating and revealing Messiah to Israel and to Biblical scholars who exert the necessary effort to extract the exquisite hidden meanings and inferences of the language – and to think on and profit from extensions of the core teachings of the prophecy.

A verse by verse consideration of it is extremely profitable and strengthening to the Believer in Christ. It is strikingly parallel to Isaiah 61, q.v.

The virgin birth of Christ is evinced in the words the LORD hath called Me from the womb – and does not exclude consideration of the biological principle of parthenogenesis (as understood by men – bringing forth of another being by a mother only), but decidedly emphasizes that the subject (Messiah) is a product of His heavenly Father (YHVH) and the virginal Mary. For we are made certain that He was a product of the Father in concert with Mary, and was therefore the ONLY begotten Son of God in a lofty and holy manner not yet fully understood by us mere earth-borns. Matthew 1:18 and Luke 1: 28 support this principle. In Isaiah 7: 14, His birth had been prophesied to be in such a manner, and one of His names is revealed: Immanuel (God with us).

Verse 2 – He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid Me, and made me a polished shaft; in His quiver hath He hid Me.

In numerous references we learn of the immense power of the “word of His mouth,” the only weapon that He shall need in His conquest of all enemies of whatever stripe (military, ideological, philosophical or purely stubborn adherents to paganism), by military conquest in physical battle, or in polemical persuasion by His undeniable instructions to the nations.

By the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked in every sense, both philosophically (theologically, specifically) and militarily in the days which certainly lie just ahead – in his bringing all resistance to His kingdom to a conclusion, then in His teaching the nations righteousness and peace.

As such an Agent, He is Himself indicated to be a dedicated weapon – a polished arrow, perfectly balanced and fashioned for his precise mission.

A dramatic picture of His going forth to subdue his enemies among the hostile nations of the earth is painted in Revelation 19: 15: And out of His mouth goeth asharp sword, that  with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

His Father’s careful guidance and meticulous preparation of His Son is expressed by the words, in the shadow of His hand hath He hid Me; a goal accomplished by having Him reside in the obscure town of Nazareth of Galilee – a sector scorned by the Jewish leaders of His day – and by the godly tutelage richly furnished by His Father, his mother, and doubtless also by his step-father Joseph.

So, carefully ordering Jesus’ life, the Almighty created Him a polished shaft (a pointed arrow) with which to perform His Purpose for mankind. He was also hidden in the Father’s quiver in the strong sense that His mission was relatively obscure in the understanding of those to whom He was sent; their misunderstanding of Him was colored by their own fleshly needs and expectations of His coming only once – in power and great glory to deliver them from Rome.

Verse 3 – And He said unto Me, Thou art My Servant, O Israel, in Whom I will be glorified.

Here Messiah the Servant is referred to as Israel (which means Prince of God – a title entirely befitting the Master) in the same sense as He is elsewhere called My Servant David in Isaiah 37: 35 and Jacob in Psalm 24: 6. And, as with ourselves His brethren, His expressed purpose was to glorify and show forth the NAME of God, embodying His will and purpose in His entire life, bringing God’s eternal will to light for all men.

Verse 4 – Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely My judgment is with the LORD, and My work with My God.

These words are not readily understood until we consider the Hebrew words themselves. I have spent My strength for nought (Hebrew,  tohu, or nothing, here) actually is as used in Isaiah 24: 10, meaning confusion, or desolation, and evenwithout form as in Genesis 1: 2. This would have been the perception of all uninformed observers of His entire life, ending as it did, in His crucifixion and permanent death in their eyes. Therefore, it should have been in vain in their eyes, desolate and useless.

YET … the prophet continues, surely My judgment (vindication) is with the LORD, and My work with My God.

His entire Purpose was NOT as it seemed to their blind, human eyes, but was really vindicated by the Almighty in His resurrection and in His being awarded eternal life, which they were not privileged to witness or be informed about because of faithlessness. Thus My work (is) with My God. HIS purpose was being validated and sealed, and was not the apparent confusion of His plan which superficially was brought on by men of ill will and fully believed by them!

Verse 5 – ‘And now,’ saith the LORD that formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, ‘Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and My God shall be My strength.’

Messiah’s careful nurturing and tuition in the things of His Father cultivated His understanding of and His subservience to His Father, and that God’s Plan had a specific design: that He (Christ) should be His (God’s) Servant, to bring Jacob again to Him! –Jacob who had departed from God in two ways that were in actual effect at that time (and still are)

First: Their greatest population by far had already been physically dispersed to Babylon hundreds of years earlier, and perhaps only less than fifteen percent had returned from Babylon in the first regathering. And recall, please, that the entire Ten Tribes had gone into captivity over an hundred years prior to the Two Tribes, and had never been recovered.         

Second: They had also departed from his precepts and testimonies in spiritual wickedness, and thus had vehemently denied His provision for their salvation. Their minds and hearts were not with God, but instead were devoted to their overriding traditions of ungodliness.

Although He suffered an inglorious end in the vindictive eyes of the Jewish leaders, yet says He, shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength. He cared not for their disdain, but coveted only the acclaim of His dear Father Whom it is  eternally His pleasure to serve – in life, in death, and in resurrection. His complete dependence upon His Father is clearly indicated in that final phrase: My God shall be My strength. In confessing this, He is stating clearly His dependence upon His Father’s care and provision (not upon His “coequality” with His Father – and thus His own self-sufficiency – as claimed by Trinitarians).

Verse 6 – And He said, ‘It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My Salvation unto the ends of the earth.’

An impossible task for lesser beings, it is a light thing (a small thing) that He should be the effectual Servant of God … to do His prime work of bringing Jacob back to Him, and to restore those of Israel who have been appointed, in these specific days (our own days), unto the first dominion of the kingdom which He shall establish [c.f., Micah 4:8: And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem].

However, His task does not end with Jacob’s return and restoration! For the Almighty also reveals that I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My Salvation (put by metonymy for His appointment as Bringer of Salvation) unto the ends of the earth. This great task set for the Master goes far beyond regathering Jacob’s Israel, and includes the redemption of all the (Gentiles who) are chosen out of the many who are called: [c.f., Matthew 22- 14].

Verse 7 – Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, ’to Him Whom man despiseth, to Him Whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose Thee.’  

The principle of redemption by the ultimate Redeemer of Israel (the Father) through His Agent – His Son, His Holy One – is here introduced, and is reflective of the provision of Israel’s Redemption as given to Moses in Exodus 6: 6 (their redemption from Egypt) and referred to in Isaiah 41: 14, q.v. – similar, yes, but though He provided for them redemption from national shame and from death itself – they would not.

But who is it that despiseth Him? What nation abhors Him? The Hebrew text gives us a clear answer; here ISRAEL is referred to by the term goi in Hebrew = an heathen nation in this context! They are so called because of their complete rejection of the Almighty in lockstep with all the other goyim (nations); here the term is decisively pejorative, denunciative.

The elucidated text actually points even more decisively to Him as rejected by His people, saying in effect, Whom man (goi) despiseth = Whom their soul (i.e., Israel’s nephesh) despiseth; it is a condition which is well depicted in the words of Isaiah 53: 2 , 3: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him there is no beauty, that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed Him not.

Their blind rejection was exhaustive and final for almost all of them when He appeared among them and they vigorously refused the salvation He offered, finally refused Him outrightly, and crucified Him.

 But how was He a servant of rulers? The nations and rulers of nations set themselves against Him as if He were a mere servant to be punished and rejected. Unfortunately, this attitude of rejection shall continue even into the future day, a reference to which is Psalm 2: 2, 3,  which tells us, The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed (Christ) saying, ‘Let us break their bands asunder, and cast their cords (of restraint) from us.

The leaders of Judah in His own day similarly mocked and derided Him: as He hung dying on the tree of death, it continued: … the chief priests mocking Him, with the scribes and the elders said,’He saved others; Himself He cannot save! If He be the king of Israel let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him!' (Matthew 27: 41, 42)

But the picture abruptly changes in mid-sentence; here He is viewed at His Second Coming when this terminal process becomes overt and grave: Kings shall see (perceive, understand Him) and arise (to His service); princes (of both Israel AND the nations) also shall worship (Him), because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy one of Israel, and He shall choose Thee (or, show Him unmistakably to be His chosen One, or approved One, for His eternal service). This condition is only to be attained after He has exerted His immense power, establishing His authority and dominion, and shown the nations His will.

At first, His coming to the earth in visible power and majesty will be distasteful to and rejected by the present rulers; they shall shun His authority out of hand, resisting Him and fighting against Him.

Examples of these conflicts are illustrated in the total destruction of the first three groups of enemies: the Proximal Islamic States “round about” Israel, the Gogian Confederacy of Ezekiel 38 and 39, and the Beast/Harlot organization of Europe and beyond. These will be “tests” of their authority and sovereignty. But when they are terminally subdued by His irresistible strength and overwhelming force, they shall be humbled as well as dethroned. It is, we believe, at that time that the “powers that be” shall recognize Him as the Desire of all nations [Haggai 2: 7] and submit themselves to His holy will. His intention for peace and security in the world has been their practiced mantra as well – but has never been achieved by them due to their own self interests and greed. Now a just society prevails and triumphs.

These transactions are a reflection of such statements as those repeatedly made by Isaiah in his middle chapters: but notice that His attention and emphasis is first and foremost upon Israel in contrast to the nations – For My name’s sake I will defer Mine anger, and for My praise will I refrain for thee (Israel), that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For Mine own sake, even for Mine own sake, will I do it: for how should My name be polluted? And I will not give My glory unto another (Isaiah 48: 9-11).

We can easily perceive the Almighty’s pervasive protection of His holy name in this statement. Because He promised to redeem Israel from its waywardness, He shall DO SO, relinquishing none of His glory to a faded, failed nation – or to any of its possible allies. Inherent in that proviso of salvation is the astoundingly generous, compassionate factor of Divine forgiveness and redemption after a suitably intense period of punishment for their sins (now nearly finished) – the almost endless series of persecutions which He has meted out to them over the centuries.

But rest assured that this forgiveness of Israel comes with a price set entirely by Him – an achievable position to which they must attain.

What is that price?

The last public pronouncement of Jesus to His persecutors is recorded in Luke 13: 35, where He proclaims to them: Ye shall see Me no more until ye shall say, ‘Blessed is He Who cometh in the name of the Lord.’

When He comes to them with His Saints and saves them from their numerous enemies round about – at the conclusion of the first conflict of the three part process outlined earlier – they behold His astonishingly immense power and destructive force upon their vile enemies, dispatching them perhaps in days or even in hours following His first noticeable actions. His force is realized by them to be far in excess of Israel’s own angelic-assisted victories over those same enemies on earlier occasions such as 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 and later actions.

Their astonishment is voiced in the words of Zechariah 13:6 where they question Him during the calm following the first conflict: What are these wounds in Thine hands? And He shall answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.’

Their recognition of Him as Messiah shall then be instantaneous.

Their realization grows in a moment into a crescendo of grateful recognition, of remorse, of regret, and of retribution upon themselves for their utter blindness. Zechariah 12: 10 adds details of that momentous event and its redemptory benefits for them: And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications: and they shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Their sense of pathos and regret is deep and indelible. Their as yet unrecognized qualification of acceptance by Him shall then have been met, and they proclaim as one man, Blessed is He Who cometh  in the name of the Lord!

At that juncture Israel’s redemption arrives, as recognition and repentance dawns upon Israel for all its waywardness and blindness!

Their mourning is profound and lasting – and doubtless shall be witnessed and televised to the entire world which shall have been closely observing this judgmentally boisterous thunder and lightning – this terrible retribution of the Christ of the Second Advent wrought without mercy or quarter upon His enemies.

The action shall perhaps have been so rapid in its execution that the potential of intervention from other nations has been truncated and entirely prevented. They shall not have had enough time to react to His intervention even if they had desired to do so!

He and the multitude of Saints along with the Israel Defense Force (probably in a shadow role at this time due to the rapidity of the conflict) shall have wiped out all the weapons and the vast numbers of aggressors who have spent decades of time and trillions of dollars and all their waking hours obsessed with preparations to destroy Israel; now they, themselves, have suffered the utter destruction they had planned for Israel! Their vile intentions have reflected upon their own persons!

Ezekiel 35: 11, et seq, tells the entire story in vivid summary: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to THINE (Islamic) ANGER, and according to THINE (Islamic)ENVY, which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them (Israel); and I will makeMyself known among them (Israel) when I have judged THEE (the nations round about Israel). And thou (here He addresses Edom, or Mount Seir) shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies, which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are given us to consume.’

As so their own aggression shall be heaped upon their several polities in an avalanche of righteous judgment which has been a-building for decades and centuries.

And the last phrase of verse 7 shall have at that time been realized: He shall choose Thee (Christ): meaning, we believe, that God’s choice is now completely revealed - is clear and accomplished. He has chosen Christ as the Solution to all man’s challenges, and Israel as His primary object of affection.  

Verse 8 – Thus saith the LORD, ‘In an acceptable time have I heard Thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped Thee; and I will preserve Thee, and give Thee for a covenant to the People, to establish the earth, to cause (thee) to inherit the desolate heritages;’

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians concerning this principle in 2 Corinthians 6: 2 – For He saith, ‘I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation.’

Paul’s comments extend the acceptable time to the people of his own day, and to our lives today, and to folk of our time.

What is his rationale for this?  

It is because salvation can only be achieved by the volitional decision of living beings in their knowledgeable, whole-hearted acceptance of His offer of redemption. It has its culmination for national Israel in the events of the (hopefully very near) future. But for ourselves it is NOW. For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything [Ecclesiastes 9:5]  nor can they DO anything in the death state such as accept His ways!

But His intent goes higher than our personal selves and Israel. From a position of humility, of apparent ignominy and powerlessness, the Man Christ Jesus has at that time been heard … helped … preserved … and given for a covenant to the People of His calling, to establish the earth (the Land of His promises), to cause thee (Christ along with all His People) to inherit the desolate heritages – the Land which was brought into desolation through the centuries, but which is now brought to fertility, to abundant production of life, and soon to eternal perfection.

Verse 9 – That Thou mayest say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth;’ to them that are in darkness, ‘Shew yourselves.’ They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

The prisoners are those who have been subdued, torn asunder, and murdered by their serial oppressors of the centuries – His beloved people Israel. They have been as hopeless as prisoners in a dungeon … and in deep darkness of mind and spirit in relation to their Father and His plan. But Messiah says forcibly to them, Go forth! and Show yourselves! Become visible as a force to be observed and with which to be reckoned! Only then shall they safely and serenely feed in the ways, and (have) their pastures in all high places … the blessing of true peace and security and righteousness.

Indeed, the next verse elaborates upon these truths, and is referred to by the Lord Himself to John and recorded in Revelation 7: 14-16, describing the future Redeemed of the Lord … who have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His Temple: and He Who sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among them. Following these words we read the very essence – the core substance, the fulfillment – of Isaiah’s next words, enriching our understanding and appreciation of his mercy and compassion.

Verse 10 – They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them; for He that had mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them.

Jesus phrased it this way in Revelation 7: 16 – They shall hunger no more neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light (bear down with discomfort) upon them, nor any heat.

But He goes further, clarifying their future state, revealing the Power behind their newly inherited position of grace: For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes!

And all this for a People utterly undeserving of such mercy! We understand that blessing of His People as faithful credit to His holy name, and expression  toward them of His unearned largess – the unconditional love of their Elder Brother operating within that confine of upholding His holiness.

It is the precise compassion which He renders upon those Gentiles of our own day who learn of Him, appreciate His saving grace, and who willingly accept His Plan wholeheartedly! None of us earns any of His blessings. He gives them all freely to us in simple exchange for deep and abiding faith in Him, even as Abraham’s BELIEVING God was accounted (credited) to him for righteousness.

His reference here to His lead(ing) them even by the springs of water, can already be observed in earnest in the Land today because of the expertise our Father has given His people in the sciences of water and land management – producing abundant blessing in the Land already, as precursor of the overflowing productivity which lies ahead for it. Its crops, carefully watered and tended by the people today, burgeon forth, lading their parent plants with oranges, bananas, pomegranates, dates, olives, peaches, apples, grapes, apricots, figs, and currants, as well as wheat, barley, oats, rye, cucumbers, melons, tomatoes, onions, carrots, peas and beans, beets, cauliflower, rutabaga, artichokes, and endless heaps of other varieties of crops and forage in the waste places brought back from the desolation of the centuries.

The springs of water (by which) He shall guide them are not yet as apparent as this verse indicates – neither the springs NOR His overt guidance – but with the personal appearance of the Master of Israel there shall come the early and the latter rains in two vital senses: first (and perhaps not in this order) come the physical springs of water, which shall be restored by a marked increase in rainfall in the blessed land.

Second, the abundant, overflowing blessings of His Spirit come upon His People – the figurative “early and latter rains” which He promises in somewhat couched but wonderfully informative terms concerning this future day in the 2rd of Joel, verses 21 – 27: Fear not O Israel! Be glad and rejoice! For the LORD will do great things  (in ironic contrast to the self-designated “great things” intended by their now decimated enemies referred to in verse 20,which eventuated in NO greatness for them at all except great shame and contempt!). Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring (forth), for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad, then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He hath given you the former rain moderately; and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month (literally, as at the first – Bullinger). And the (threshing) floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats (vats) shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, the caterpillar and the palmerworm (indicating all their fierce national oppressors from Babylon to Rome); My great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, Who hath dealt wondrously with you; and My People shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else; and My People shall never be ashamed.

Verses 11, 12 – And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

In these words the prophet conveys the principle of freedom of movement within the newly expanded Land of Israel. No political barriers such as Hamas or Hezbollah shall then exist, for these are at that time a mere remnant of history. No national boundaries of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt shall then exist in our considered opinion, for these are evidently now conquered and absorbed into Greater Israel – the Land promised to Abraham from sea to sea and from the Nile to the Euphrates. All these are a free-way, offering no blockage of movement or other constraints to His people. The highways of the land encourage communication and burgeoning social and commercial activity as well as administrative access to all the Land; and they serve as ways of entry for His exiled people who are now finally ready to come home to Israel – from the north and from the west, and from the land of Sinim [China]!

Verse 13 – Sing O heavens, and be joyful O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains, for the LORD hath comforted His People, and will have mercy upon His (formerly) afflicted.

To sing, here, is to shout in triumph (in victory!). At first, the heavens and earth here referenced are those of Israel only. For only His People sball have, at this time in the earliest moments of His Second Advent, been blessed and liberated. It is the mountains of Israel which are admonished poetically to break forth into singing for the immense blessings their population has lately received from Him.

In the next two verses the Revelator recalls Israel’s earlier history – rehearsing times well before this time of blessing – in which His People languished in poverty and disdain among the nations of the Diaspora: he recounts their despair and futility …

Verses 14, 15 – But Zion said, ‘The LORD hath forsaken me; and my LORD hath forgotten me! Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they MAY forget; yet will I not forget thee!

Now that final blessing – yet will I not forget thee – has come to fruition! He is more faithful to them than their own parents, unmoved by their pleas for centuries, but responding to them at the appointed time and place.

In the narrative immediately following, He reveals to them His steadfast Purpose for His beloved People, of which they had been well and repeatedly informed but which they had ignored or forgotten …

Verses 16, 17 - Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me. Thy children shall make haste: thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shal go forth of thee.

To engrave one’s name upon one’s hand indicates permanence of remembrance and concern. To have their walls continually in His mind indicates His watchfulness for them even while they were in the Diaspora (their scattered condition) and His ultimate intention not to make a full end of them but to bring them home again to their Land.

At the appointed time His children shall hasten to return, and do so by every conveyance. Space shall be made for them by the displacement of their oppressors who presently live among them and round about – those “other” inhabitants of His Promised Land who are not welcome (indeed, are forbidden) to remain, and thus shall go forth of thee (from thee). These are either converted (a possibility, as always), slain or deported outside its borders. Their ultimate destiny even in those outlying regions is eventual conversion to the ways of Israel’s God – or death (Zechariah 14: 16-19 confirms this (q.v.).

Verses 18, 19 – Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together; and come to thee. ‘As I live’ saith the Lord, ‘Thou shalt surely clothe thee (thyself) with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

To lift up their eyes is to place their attention upon the LORD and upon His beneficence toward them. As they do so they behold their brethren actively gathering in one Land – their Land – and colonizing it as never before, in huge numbers and from a multitude of sources. These are coming to the Almighty’s Representative, their Messiah, Jesus Christ, Whom they now realize is their true Redeemer and King.

And so the Land and its People shall be clothed with these new olim (immigrants to Israel) as with a garment superbly ornamented and embroidered for God’s glory, similar to the rich finery of a bride. This is the first mention of a bride in this context in this chapter and is fittingly applied to those returning gladsome future citizens of Christ’s kingdom on the earth!

Verses 20, 21 – The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other(children), shall say again in thine ears, ‘The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.’ Then shalt thou say in thine heart, ‘Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?’

Throughout the ages, the children of Israel have been pursued by death, slain for spurious reasons, and generally held to a tiny remnant. The ultimate insult came to their nation in Nazi Germany of 1933-1945 in the Shoah (the Holocaust) when the most concentrated loss of their race was inflicted upon them.

The implication is that they now shall have children again in abundance, and that the returning numbers will complain about cramped quarters. We believe this is a poetic expression of their urgency to return and settle under Christ, for their Land shall be expansive and relatively clear of inhabitants; they shall have the place (and the space) they desire in that day.

But the amazement of Zion is apparent in their exclamations as to the huge influx of their brethren from all over the world, as well as their naturally increased fertility of that day. Deuteronomy 28 addresses this unique time: 4  Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine (cattle), and the flocks of thy sheep. 5  Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6  Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 7  The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

Israel today is acutely conscious of having lost so many of her number in the Shoah – an event which desolated them, captivated them, and made their survivors “Displaced Persons” over all Europe and other parts of the world – endlessly removing to and fro. They are incredulous at the in-rushing olim, and rejoice and exult at their arrival and at their great blessing after so much hardship, sacrifice, and anguish for so many centuries.

And now the prophet reveals the manner of their Return to Zion, giving logistical details of their actual transport and of their intense desire to be transported home.

Verses 22, 23 – Thus saith the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I will lift Mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up My standard (the nation of Israel with its ensign) to the people (the Hebrews of the world), and they (the Gentiles) shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.  And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens their nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me..

This highly figurative language indicates the energetic intensity of the nations to return His People to their own Land, and the dedication they shall exert to accomplish this massive Aliyah.  It appears that the entire world shall be involved in this repatriation of the Hebrew People back in its Land with the greatest care and with urgent dispatch. But this mandate is His to give; it is theirs to obey with haste and gratitude to Him for His mercy to them. Thus it is to Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way (Psalm 2: 12), and to do His bidding with dedication and efficiency!

The rogue prophet Balaam, in Numbers 24: 15-24, addressed this future time in which these foes shall fall and perish. His utterance on this occasion concerned Moab and Edom, Amalek and the Kenites as Endtime enemies of His People. Balaam forecasted their utter destruction in a key illustration of the principle of agreeing with (kissing) the Son – of giving up aggression and beastly behavior in return for His favour. They obviously would rather die than comply. And so they shall!

Their compliance with His ways is described as bowing to the ground, and licking up the dust of Israel’s feet – an acute realization of subjection and humiliation – which they most surely shall regretfully experience when it occurs. Imagine their abject degradation and pervasive shame as they bow to the hated Jew, and are forced to do his bidding as was the despised Haman of Persia!

The terminal transaction of this episode is that Israel shall know that God is their God, and not be ashamed of being His people, nor of their citizenship in David’s Commonwealth of that day, nor of being the brethren of that King of kings who sits upon the restored throne of David in Zion! Their “knowing” this goes far deeper than mere observation or shallow realization of facts; they feel kinship to him in their hearts; they devote their lives to His benevolent service; they place their FAITH in Him at this time, so how could they be or ever become ashamed? It shall be in bold contrast to Israel of today, in which many openly profess atheism, others still follow strange gods of mammon and property, and others abjectly court His disfavour in their extremely prideful homosexual, lesbian and transsexual lifestyles. Away with these! shall He command the Saints – and it shall be done, if these cannot or will not turn from their idolatry and depravity.

Verses 24-26 – Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the  lawful captive delivered?   But thus saith the Lord, ‘Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy childen.  And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with the sweet wine.  

These final words of the prophet are rhetorical, in a way. In a natural sense can we visualize removing a leg of a lamb from the wolf’s fangs? Or strolling into San Quentin prison and demanding the release of prisoners? Or liberating those held in the grip of death, bringing them back to life?

No!

But our Father is not limited by any constraints of men nor does He suffer from weakness of any kind; the “mighty” and the “terrible” can be construed as being death itself, whose sting is felt by every man. He shall reverse death – and eventually abolish it altogether! And not only that, Israel shall be delivered from their now swarming enemies with dispatch, as He contends with them that contendeth with thee, and saves their children; and as He feeds them that have long oppressed Israel with their own flesh, making them drunk with their own blood which He shall shed in a final sacrifice of their sorry carcasses to the ‘allah’ of their philosophy.  For, although sweet wine is pleasant to contemplate enjoying in moderation, its fearful and unpleasant effects of excessive consumption, and of saturation of the blood with its ethyl alcohol component, is extremely unpleasant and harmful – and often fatal.

In this magnificent revelation of the Almighty to Isaiah, He elaborates His awesome Plan for the redemption of His people and His subjection of the world to His will and purposes. Its narrative follows closely the numerous other accounts in His word of His final intent and the sequence of events He shall undertake. It is clear in this account that His appearance to Israel and to the world (unrecognized as to His true identity from the earliest moments) is first to save His people from their immediate oppressors and to expand their boundaries from River to River, and from Sea to Sea, ousting ALL their oppressors, exterminating them wholly, establishing pervasive security and peace in His Land as it awaits the marshalling of more distant enemies who are apparently much stronger and more fierce, but whose fate is also indelibly written as fatally destined.

But His People shall not be afraid of these, expressing their complete faith in the returned Lord Jesus, and their fealty to Him: they trust their salvation to Him on every front, and dwell without bars or gates, without the Protective Wall, without strongholds, without armies, without armament, without aircraft or tanks, mustering no troops or equipment for their own defense, trusting implicitly upon the breath of His lips as spoken commands defending them from all enemies. It shall be a remarkable and unique time in the earth – and the greatest of divine solutions for all!

        <HEL MD/USA  July 2012>   [6860 words]