Despite the strife and terrorism in the Holy Land, Jewish descendants continue to flock to Israel by the hundreds, much to the delight of Jewish taxpayers. This is an obvious continued fulfillment of Ezekiel 36:24; 17:11-12; Amos 9:15: and Matthew 24:41, which speak of the Jews returning to the land God has given them.
As we alluded to last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally endorsed a sovereign Palestine, albeit with a host of conditions. The Palestinian state would have to agree to be demilitarized, cede control of its airspace, and the Palestinians would have to officially recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Most importantly, Netanyahu said dividing Jerusalem is out of the question. Predictably, the last two conditions were met with disdain by Arab leaders, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas saying Netanyahu had killed the peace process and ensured “another round of violence and bloodshed.” A Palestinian official asserted that Netanyahu wanted to “kill off any chance of peace,” while the leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yousef, characterized the Israeli PM as a “war criminal” for rejecting President Obama’s policies.
One of the more fascinating aspects of this is the involvement of the Obama Administration.
The United States remains heavily involved in the burgeoning peace process. In addition to the above references to President Obama’s plans, a senior adviser to Abbas had this to say, courtesy of WorldNetDaily:
Nimer Hamad, senior political adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, also said the PA is not concerned about Netanyahu’s policies since Abbas relies on American support for key Palestinian demands.
During Netanyahu’s speech Sunday, the Israeli leader called for a demilitarized Palestinian state and said Jerusalem would always be united under Jewish sovereignty.
Hamad countered: “No matter what is the position of the Israeli government and no matter what are the statements of Netanyahu, what counts is what was promised to us by Obama, which is totally the opposite [of Netanyahu's positions].”
“We received encouraging signs from the Americans that we should not take seriously into consideration Netanyahu’s speech,” Hamad said.
Hamad said the Obama administration holds views that strongly differ from Netanyahu’s.
The new Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, made an intriguing assertion as well, saying that he felt any deals concerning Jewish settlements would first come between Israel and the US, not Israel and Palestine. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is in the US right now discussing the whole process.
Tomorrow I will address this topic in detail. I don’t want to be misunderstood so I will be making it into a stand alone post. Be sure to check back tomorrow afternoon, or subscribe to the RSS or e-mail feed in the upper right corner, beneath the search box.
While the Arabs are claiming that this ended any chance of peace between Israel and the rest of the nations of the Middle East, in truth is has laid the groundwork for a coming peace agreement, forged by the Antichrist himself (Daniel 9:27). Israel will think she is finally at peace, but it will be a false peace (Jeremiah 6:14, 8:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:3), because Israel will have entered into a contract with “death and hell” (Isaiah 28:15). This peace deal will include a Palestinian state (Joel 3:2; Zechariah 14:2) but intense strife will remain over Jerusalem, for the Jews and Palestinians both want it all to themselves (Zechariah 12:2-3). War will break out when Russia and an Arab confederation (Psalm 83:4-5; Ezekiel 38:15) attack Israel (Ezekiel 38 & 39; Jeremiah 1:13; 10:22). Israel will use a sophisticated air defense (fighter planes & missiles) to defend herself (Isaiah 31:5; 60:8).
In perhaps the greatest sign we’ve seen in years that proves the Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will announced Sunday that he is open to a sovereign Palestine. This is a dramatic shift in policy for Israel, and removes the greatest barrier to the signing of a peace contract in the Middle East, an event that marks the beginning of the Tribulation (Daniel 9:27).
We have pointed out many times that seemingly the whole world is calling for a two-state solution. Even Netanyahu’s own Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has recently endorsed a Palestinian state. President Barack Obama has been heavily involved in pressuring Israel to yield to the idea of a sovereign Palestine. The US holds a lot of sway over Israel (esepcially concerning Iran), even to the point where King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said Obama should “impose a solution” to the Mideast conflict. Obama’s Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, says the US wants to see a ‘Palestinian state as soon as possible.’
(I will have much, much more to say about Barack Obama’s involvement in the peace process after Netanyahu’s speech early next week.)
The Tribulation begins when a world leader negotiates a seven year peace contract between Israel and the nations of the Middle East (Daniel 9:27). As we’ve said all along, this brokered peace deal will involve a Palestinian state (Joel 3:2, Zechariah 14:2). This will be a temporary peace because the Jews and Palestinians will both want complete control over Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-3).
Much more information on this topic to come next week.
Earlier this month we posted a link to a World Net Daily story citing evidence that the division of Jerusalem was already underway. Now, according to an update from WND, the erection of this “security barrier” has been stopped following a Knesset inquiry.
While everyone on the planet seems to be calling for a divided Jerusalem and Palestinian state (the most recent being King Abdullah II of Jordan), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to vow that it will never happen. A Palestinian Authority leader was quoted today as saying President Obama, who is becoming heavily involved in the Mid-east peace process, sees a divided Jerusalem in the future, and is even helping Palestinians live illegally on Jewish land in east Jerusalem.
Despite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s insistence otherwise, Jerusalem will be divided in the near future. The Bible predicts in Joel 3:2 and Zechariah 14:2 that the City of the Great King will be split in half. It is this strife over Jerusalem that leads to World War III (Zechariah 12:2-3) , and sets the stage for the last 3.5 years of the Tribulation, the worse period of time in human history.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran test-fired a new advanced missile Wednesday with a range of about 1,200 miles, far enough to strike Israel, southeastern Europe and U.S. bases in the Middle East.
The announcement will not reassure the U.S. government, coming just two days after President Barack Obama declared a readiness to seek deeper international sanctions against Iran if it shunned U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama said he expected a positive response to his outreach for opening a dialogue with Iran by the end of the year.
“Defense Minister (Mostafa Mohammad Najjar) has informed me that the Sajjil-2 missile, which has very advanced technology, was launched from Semnan and it landed precisely on the target,” state radio quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. He spoke during a visit to the city of Semnan, 125 miles east of the capital Tehran, where Iran’s space program is centered.
Iran is mentioned in Scripture as playing a key role in the final years before Christ returns. President Ahmadinejad has repeatedly vowed to end the existence of Israel, statements that fulfill one of the last signs before Messiah comes (Psalm 83:4). Iran is working to make that happen, and is mentioned in Ezekiel 38:5 as one of the nations that joins with Russia to form a confederacy to wipe out Israel (Psalm 83:5; Ezekiel 38:8:16). It is also possible that Iran will take part in an attack against the United States (Jeremiah 51:11, 28).
On Monday the Jerusalem Post ran a story outlining the Iranians plan to mass produce long-range missiles.
