"....and him who dishonors you I will curse...."

This country has been under God's blessing since early in the 20th century due to our support of the State of Israel and God's promise to Abram: " I will bless those who bless you...." Genesis 12:3, part 1.

Now, however, we see below that:

'The World Tribune reported this week that Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi cut short his visit to Washington after getting an "extraordinarily cool" reception from the new U.S. administration.

General Ashkenazi reportedly attempted to arrange meetings with President Obama, Vice President Biden and intelligence czars Bob Gates, Dennis Blair or Michael Mullen. None of them would see him. He had valuable intelligence information about Iran to share with them.

The Tribune quoted an unnamed diplomat who told them, "The administration is sending a very clear message to Israel, and this is we want to talk about Palestine and not Iran."

....

And Israel Today is reporting that the Obama administration is not just cool to Israel. It alleges that President Obama "is about to break America's long ties of friendship with Israel, and maybe even take steps toward the dissolution of the Jewish state."'

There is a second part to God's promise to Abram in Genesis 12:3: "....and him who dishonors you I will curse...."

These actions by the Obama administration amount to a direct snub of Israel, and indicate that official policy will be to "honor" the Palestinians and to dishonor and betray Israel's trust in us. I believe that this has now put the USA under God's direct curse.

I have also read that President Bush, last August, refused to allow the Israeli Defense Force overflight rights in Iraq so that they could attack Iran's nuclear weapons program. I believe that this also dishonored Israel.

Add to this the millions of unborn children that have been murdered on the altar of human convenience. God hates this and has destroyed peoples and nations in the past for this outrageous sin. I believe that only God's blessing for honoring Israel has stayed his wrath for this and many other national sins. That blessing is no longer in place.

What has happened to the USA since last August? Has it been anything good? It seems to me as though we have "fallen off a cliff."

Those of us who are anxiously awaiting Christ's return probably don't have long to wait, now. However, we need to redouble our efforts to bring our lost family and friends, as well as the whole world, to faith in our Lord and fulfill the Great Commission.

The time from now until His return is certain to be tumultuous. He has not promised that it will be easy for any of us. We need to keep up our own faith and rest in the peace of the Lord, knowing that He has promised us that all things will turn out for the best for those who believe in Him.

From The Hal Lindsey Report

A fearful thing, betraying Israel
Posted: March 20, 2009

One can really tell that the International Herald Tribune is the sister publication of the New York Times. Like the New York Times, the IHT never saw a liberal it didn't love or a conservative it didn't hate – or a fact its editors couldn't spin.

The Times generally uses the IHT as its international hit man, reserving its own pages to advance the policies of the Democrat Party.

The IHT ran a story entitled "Is Global Rebranding What Israel Needs?" The piece opened by recognizing Israel as the world's pariah state:

Its sports teams have met hostility and violent protests in Sweden, Spain and Turkey. Mauritania has closed the Israeli Embassy. Relations with Turkey, an important Muslim ally, have suffered severely. A group of top international judges and human rights investigators recently called for an investigation into Israel's actions in Gaza. "Israel Apartheid Week" drew participants in 54 cities around the world this month, twice the number of last year, according to its organizers. And even in the American Jewish community, albeit in its liberal wing, there is a chill.
Having established that everybody hates Israel (even liberal Jews), the columnist, Ethan Bronner, went on to build his case that Israel deserves it:

Of course, for Israel's critics, including those who firmly support the existence of a Jewish state, the problem is not one of image but of policy. They say that four decades of occupation, the settling of half a million Israeli Jews on land captured in 1967, the economic strangling of Gaza for the past few years and the society's growing indifference toward a Palestinian state are all reasons Israel has lost favor abroad, and that no amount of image buffing will change that.

Does anybody remember how Israel ended up "occupying" the land it "captured" in 1967? Israel captured it after beating back the combined forces of the Arab world that had launched a war of annihilation against Israel. And this wasn't the first pan-Arab war aimed at annihilating the Jews – it was the third.

Israel fought them off in 1948. And again in 1956. And then again in 1967. And once again in 1973. This strip of land, so coveted by the Arab world, amounts to less than one-sixth of one percent of the Muslim Middle East.

While we're on the subject, does anybody remember what it was that spurred the Jews to return to their ancestral homeland in the first place? It was the Holocaust.

The Holocaust wasn't personally perpetrated by Adolf Hitler. Hitler never killed a single Jew. It was perpetrated by the Germans – aided by Frenchmen, Italians, Romanians, Ukrainians, Arabs, et al, while the Allies did their best not to notice.

The Palestinian State that the rest of the world insists that Israel owes the Palestinians could have been theirs in 1947. They turned it down in favor of a war of annihilation.

Does anybody recall exactly why Israel went back into Gaza? It was because Palestinian terrorists fired more than six thousand rockets into Israeli cities and towns.

The reason that Israel is a pariah nation has absolutely nothing to do with Israeli policies. Israel was a pariah nation before it even had time to formulate national policies. As already noted, long before there was an Israel, the world tried to exterminate the Jews.

After there was an Israel, the Arabs tried to exterminate the Jews. It isn't the Israeli state – it is the Jews that the world finds so offensive. But what has really caused this race of people to be so hated? This kind of racial hatred is unprecedented in history.

The true reason is this: Israel stands, as God intended, a sign to the nations. Israel was created as a visible proof of the true God's existence.

Israel's God of Love and mankind's redemption stands in sharp contrast to the gods of other religions. Islam's God is one of war and conquest. Conversion to it is at the point of sword. Its goal is to force the world into submission.

As the Bible declares, Israel was created to receive, write down and preserve God's Word. It was created to be the race through whom the Savior of the World would be born. Even their failures and disciplines were predicted in order that it would be a proof of the truth of God's Word. Their ultimate restoration to the land promised their forefathers was predicted in detail. These prophecies have been fulfilled before the eyes of our era.

All of this is lost on the liberal media, just as it apparently has been on the liberal Obama administration. The World Tribune reported this week that Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi cut short his visit to Washington after getting an "extraordinarily cool" reception from the new U.S. administration.

General Ashkenazi reportedly attempted to arrange meetings with President Obama, Vice President Biden and intelligence czars Bob Gates, Dennis Blair or Michael Mullen. None of them would see him. He had valuable intelligence information about Iran to share with them.

The Tribune quoted an unnamed diplomat who told them, "The administration is sending a very clear message to Israel, and this is we want to talk about Palestine and not Iran."

When an Iranian-made atomic bomb hits the U.S., they may wish they had never said this.

And Israel Today is reporting that the Obama administration is not just cool to Israel. It alleges that President Obama "is about to break America's long ties of friendship with Israel, and maybe even take steps toward the dissolution of the Jewish state."

If true, America is in even more serious trouble than even the most pessimistic assessment can reflect. If America betrays Israel, then America is rejecting the Word of Israel's God.

The Bible warns, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:31) Fearful? That is an understatement of Biblical proportions.

I used to quote a wise saying: "History teaches us that man learns nothing from history." That doesn't really apply today. This generation doesn't even know history – and the liberal media reports the news counting on that.

God Save America!

Prerequisite to Ezekiel's War has been fulfilled!

In Ezekiel 38 and 89, the prophet recorded God's prophecy about a great war against Israel in the End Times. There are a number of prerequisites for the fulfillment of this prophecy. Many have already been met (return of the Jews to restore the State of Israel, emergence of Russia as a major power, alliance between Russia and Persia (modern Iran), and many others.

This prophesy also speaks of Israel being wealthy, providing great plunder and spoils.

Through hard work and the blessings of God, the Jews have already made Israel much more prosperous than the surrounding Islamic countries. However, Joel Rosenberg (author of The Last Jihad, The Last Days, The Ezekiel Option, and other novels and non-fiction books) contends that the scriptures speak of much greater wealth than that, and that prophecies in the Old Testament seem to point to the discovery of oil or gas in Israel.

This has just happened!

The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition

Gas find may meet demand for 15 years
Jan. 19, 2009
Sharon Wrobel , THE JERUSALEM POST

A historic natural gas reservoir found offshore from Haifa is poised to meet Israel's natural gas demand for about 15 years and reduce the country's dependence on gas imports from Egypt and offshore from Gaza.

The discovery of the natural gas field 90 km. offshore from Haifa, known as Tamar, was made by a US-Israel consortium including the Delek Group, through its subsidiaries Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration, Isramco Negev 2, Dor Gas Exploration and US oil operator Noble Energy Inc.

Preliminary estimates indicate that the Tamar field might contain over 88 billion cubic meters of gas.

"If the Tamar site opposite the Haifa coast succeeds in producing the significant quantities of natural gas predicted, we are talking about a revolution which will have an impact on the Israeli economy for the coming generations," said Dan Halman, CEO of Halman-Aldubi Group. "The vast reservoir is poised to bring down electricity prices, reduce the country's dependence on gas from foreign countries, in particular from Egypt, and thereby turn Israel from a gas importer into a gas exporter."

Yoav Burgan, analyst at Leader Capital Markets, believes in the possibility of long-term deals resulting from the Tamar well which could generate a potential value of $15.5 billion.

....

Read the rest here. This is a huge discovery, and could lead to a great deal more gas and oil being discovered in the near future.

Not only should this discovery and others result in a much greater level of wealth in Israel, it could also provide a reason (aside from hatred of the Jews) for the Russian and Iranian led coalition to attack Israel.

Maranatha

Beware of The Law of Unintended Consequences

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, writing on their blog, DickMorris.com, posted a very interesting commentary yesterday.

THE IMPENDING COLLAPSE OF OUR ENEMIES
By Dick Morris And Eileen McGann
12.15.2008

The Depression — let’s call it what it is — leaves us, well, depressed. But there is very good news from around the world. Our enemies are collapsing under the strain of dropping oil and gas prices. What we had all hoped conservation and off-shore drilling would achieve, the global economic collapse is accomplishing: the defeat of OPEC, Iran, Chavez, Putin and the weakening of the financial underpinnings of Islamist terrorism. In each of these nations, the hold of the dictator is weakening as, one after the other, they face the consequences of dropping oil prices.

In Iran, the sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the aggressive efforts of the U.S. government, and the actions of states like California, Florida, and Missouri to ban pension investments in companies that do business with Iran are having a big effect. Unable to expand its oil production for a lack of foreign investment, Iran faces the need to slash its budget drastically as energy revenues, the source of 85% of its income, crash. Iranian President Ahmadinejad is announcing harsh austerity measures. Having based his budget on $50-$60 oil, he now must recast it for at a $40 per barrel level. He boasts of cash reserves of $23 billion, but that sum won’t last long unless he makes major cuts. (Do the math: a shortfall of $25/barrel per day x 4 million barrels a day x 365 days = $36.5 billion, more than he’s got on hand).

The question for Ahmadinejad and for the Ayatollah who stands behind him is: Can their regime survive economic collapse? Unable to buy social peace by handouts and subsidies, will the top blow off an country that hates the regime, is predominantly very young, and is only 40% Farci?

Read the rest.

They go on to discuss the plight of Venezuela and Russion.

So, what has happened here?

For the last year or more, the price of a barrel of oil has risen rapidly, peaking at about $140 per barrel. For all this time, our enemies, who are all big oil producing states, have licked their chops and built these prices into their budgets and strategic planning. These unexpected billions have funded Iran's nuclear weapons program and subsidized the failing Iranian economy. Unexpected billions have funded Putin's plans stabilize the Russian economy, rebuild the Russian military, and pursue his expansionist aggression in Georgia (with more planned to come, I'm sure).

So the oil producing countries have done their best to keep pushing oil prices higher, manipulating the market with all their might, rejoicing all the time at the sudden windfall. This caused a classic "bubble" in the oil market. Oil futures kept being driven higher because speculators and big purchasers (like airlines) kept bidding up the prices, driven by the fear of even higher prices yet to come.

Every market bubble eventually bursts. Something happens that causes the hysteria to evaporate and reality to set in. When that happens, prices in that market collapse. We have seen that in the oil market as the price of a barrel of oil fell precipitously from around $150 per barrel to around $45 per barrel. This is about where supply and demand set the price of oil in an open market in the current economic conditions.

But our enemies have built their short-term good fortune (the oil price bubble) into their long-term plans as though the bubble was never going to end. They were wrong.

Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to put more money into a budget than it is to take money out of a budget? As Dick and Eileen said, our enemies are now in extremely serious budget difficulty. And the best thing about it is their troubles are mostly of their own making!

The Non-Event on Rosh Hashanna 2008

My brother-in-law, Alan Nelson, sent me an email with the following article from Longtom Radio End Times Ministries, www.ltradio.org. All of you who read my "Oh, Well...." post know that I was very disappointed that our Lord did nor return for us on Rosh Hashanna. I did not lose hope or faith, but I certainly was puzzled how we could have so badly misread so many clear signs. I think this article makes a powerful, very plausable scriptural argument that we were right, but missed the full significance of the parable of the ten virgins.

It's a bit long, but here's the full article:

The Non-Event on Rosh Hashanna 2008

There were many reasons for the expectation of the Rapture to take place on Rosh Hashanna/Feast of Trumpets 2008. One of them was the astronomical tetrad in the years 2014-2015 as discovered by US Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries. For only the third time in 2000 years, there will be a succession of total lunar eclipses on the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles in this Jewish years, including unusual solar eclipses.

It appeared that this could be the fulfillment of Yahushua’s (Jesus’) words, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light ...” (Mt 24:29).

Calculating backwards 7 years, which is the duration of the 70th week of Daniel, called the Tribulation, the Feast of Trumpets 2008 became a focal point for the fulfillment of the pre-Tribulation Rapture.

Also, and in support of this, the Feast of Trumpets 2008 appeared to be the beginning of a new sabbatical cycle, or year week; a period of 7 years that will conclude the 50 year Jubilee cycle around about the year 2015. Taking a re look at the Sabbath year, which many believed to have passed on Rosh Hashanna which was the end of the civil year, we discovered that the sacred calendar year only ends on the eve of 1 Nisan 5769 (around the end of March 2009). Rosh Hashanna is in it`s right position at the start of the seventh month of Tishrei on the sacred calendar.

According to the Scripture, Yahushua (Jesus), the Kinsman Redeemer, will return to the earth on the Final Jubilee, defeat the armies of the world at Armageddon, and restore the land of Israel to the Jewish people and usher in the Thousand year peace.

So then, are we prepared to be like the Bereans, “in that they received the word in all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11)? If we are willing to search and examine the Scriptures, and put a magnifying glass over them, we will surely find out why many have lapsed into a state of despair and disillusionment over the non-event of Rosh Hashanah 2008.

Also we will see that because of this condition, we are closer than ever before to His coming.

The Ten Virgins

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom ... But while the bridegroom was delayed they all slumbered and slept” (Mt 25:1-5).

Everything is summed up in these verses. It does not matter whether we agree or disagree about the timelines pointing to Rosh Hashanah 2008.

The fact is, because of these timelines and teachings and understandings, millions of Christians around the world “took their lamps and went out to meet the Bridegroom” on this date, which was an appointed time [feast day] on the Hebrew calendar. And because “the Bridegroom was delayed” millions of Christians have lost hope that He is coming and are falling asleep.

How I wish we could all see the simplicity of it all! Of course, there were five wise and five foolish virgins who went out to meet Him. The Greek word for “foolish” is moros [Strong’s 3474] and means “dull or stupid, blockhead.” Our English word “moron” is derived from it. Oh dear! But the trouble is, “they all slumbered and slept,” including the wise virgins.

These two verses lay the foundation for the coming of the Bridegroom, for the words of Yahushua (Jesus) seem not only to be a parable, but also a prophecy.

At some time in history, the Lord Jesus was saying that before He could come, ten [the number of ordinal perfection] virgins, representing the entire watchful church, would agree that the appointed time had arrived for their wedding day, the Rapture. And on that appointed Day, in their hearts, as it were, they would all go out to meet with Him “in the clouds” (1 Th 4:17).

And when that happened - He would delay!

Now, what does it take for all these virgins to agree upon a certain date? After all, they are not all at the same place but spread around the world, and all of them have somewhat different perspectives and understandings about this Day.

We are not talking here about a cult, where all agree by decree. Half the virgins, we may assume, are the Bride of Christ, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, the ones who, according to Yahushua, had oil in their lamps. And this whole company, both wise and foolish, are persuaded that on a certain date their Bridegroom is coming to marry them.

In the first place, it is not possible to go to an appointment without a time. Simply put, no person in their right mind will go to an appointment unless a time and date has been set.

It is becoming clearer now why there were so many timelines pointing to Rosh Hashanah 2008, a date that was not set by cults and cranks, but based upon the prophetic Word.

Moreover, if it had been a date set by a single person or ministry, it is doubtful whether this event could have been fulfilled as Scripture requires it to be.

It is also clear that, since this was the wedding day of Yahushua Hamashiach, no such thing could have happened unless it had been sanctioned by the Holy Spirit. It is He that has been appointed to tell us “things to come” (Jn 16:13), and He alone, as at Palm Sunday [the delayed wedding date at the end of week 69 – Mt 22:1-14, Mt 21:1-11] could create this expectation in the hearts of men.

Therefore many men and many ministries, and watchmen, all working together under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and guided by the Word of God, persuaded the ten virgins that the appointed time of their wedding day was Rosh Hashanah 2008.

If we place a magnifying glass over the Scripture, we see clearly that unless we did what we did on Rosh Hashanah 2008, the Lord will not come. For reasons which are not yet clear to us, the Spirit of Prophecy has decreed that until all ten virgins have common cause that the Bridegroom is coming, and at a certain fixed time, and act upon it, He will not come.

And if it was not this day, then this part of the Rapture process has not yet been fulfilled, for there has been no other day in the history of the church that has fulfilled this pre-Rapture condition. Or are we to wait for another day at another time that all, or many, will agree upon?

Also, had we believed that He would delay; we would not have gone out to meet with Him?

If I should say to you, I will meet you on such and such a time on such and such a day, but I will be delayed, will you come out to meet with me? How then shall I persuade you to come out and meet with me, for knowing that I will delay, you will not come?

Yet He said, “But while the bridegroom was delayed.” And in another place, “Though it delays, wait for it, for surely it will come. It will not tarry” (Hab 2:3). And in another place, “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry” (Heb 10:37). And He also delayed on Palm Sunday, saying, “The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy” (Mt 22:8). Did we forget?

So then, He delays His wedding. Palm Sunday, the last day of the 69 weeks of Daniel, was His wedding day. It was delayed. Rosh Hashanah 2008 was also the appointed time of His wedding. It has also been delayed.

Are we then to lose heart, or fall asleep? Surely not. For then He said, “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’” (Mt 25:6).

He has only delayed so that He can come. Indeed, now that He has delayed, His coming is closer than ever. Until He delayed, He could not come. But now that the appointed time has come and gone, and He is delaying, He will come.

And He will come suddenly, “at midnight.” It will be swift, sudden and unexpected for many.

There will be no more time and no more warning.

“Cry” is the Greek, krauge, [Strong’s 2906], “an outcry (in notification, tumult or grief), or clamour.” Will the global financial system finally implode, or World War III break out?

Clearly, the Rapture is not going to take place on a sunny day, but in the midst of calamity.

“Go out” is the Greek, exerchomai, meaning “come out of, or escape out of” [Strong’s 1831], and “to meet” is apantesis, “a friendly encounter” [Strong’s 529]. Did He not also say, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Lk 21:36)?

My dear friends, I am also disappointed that He delayed at Rosh Hashanah. But I am fully persuaded that God’s watchmen were not wrong about this appointed time. And I am fully persuaded that the Rapture will be fulfilled exactly as it has been set out in the Scripture, with a date, with a disappointment, and with a delay. For without a date, there is no appointed time, and without an appointed time, there can be no delay.

Whether men believe it or not, all who waited for the Bridegroom to appear in the clouds on Rosh Hashanah 2008, have now made it possible for Him to come at the Rapture. So do not be disappointed, but rejoice, for through our simple faith that we can know the time, that date setting is not an abomination to God but a pre-requisite for our wedding day to be fulfilled, you have collectively brought this incredible day so much closer.

So how long is this delay?

A Little While

The Scripture gives us many clues, but no precise time [that we know of] for this crucial period.

Unless there is clear revelation concerning this, we would be wise not to speculate with too much rigidity. One of the most comforting clues comes from the Greek text of Hebrews 10:37, which is a quote from the vision of Habakkuk 2:3. “For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.”

The word translated “little” is the Greek mikron [Strong’s 3397/8], “a small space of time,” from which the English word “micron” is derived.

A micron is “one millionth of a meter,” a distance which is too small to be visible. To emphasize how small this space of time is, the Greek text includes the words “oson, oson” which are translated as “a very [little while].” Oson means “much or great” [Strong’s 3745], so in effect it means “a great, great little while” or a “very, very, small space of time.”

Is the Holy Spirit indicating that this delay is for such a microscopic period of time that it is, for all intents and purposes, almost invisible on the scale of Biblical prophecy? This is good news to those who were disappointed at the Feast of Trumpets.

There is also comfort in the Hebrew text of Habakkuk’s vision. Habakkuk says, “For still the vision is for the appointed time, but it [the appointed time] pants to the end and does not lie.

Though it delays, wait for it, for surely it will come. It will not tarry.”

“Pants” is the Hebrew word puwach [Strong’s 6315], and means “to puff, blow with the breath of air.” It suggests a woman in the birth pangs of labour, and will proceed immediately after the appointed time. That is now. These then, are the birth pangs of the Tribulation, short, shooting pains that must come suddenly before the birth of this awesome Day of the Lord.

No wonder we are dismayed.

The word “tarry” is achar [Strong’s 309], and means “to loiter, by implication to procrastinate, be late.” In the first place, the appointed time is not a lie. This should give us hope. And however long the delay, we are told that this is not some aimless procrastination, but for a specific purpose, and undoubtedly for a predetermined but “very, very, small space of time.”

What is this purpose? Is it not to separate the wise from the foolish virgins, those ‘blockheads’ that have no oil in the lamps and believe they can enter Heaven without being born again by the Spirit? This, I believe, is the primary purpose of the delay, to sift and separate the wise and foolish from each other. To want to escape this earth, for whatever reason, is not a qualification for the Rapture, for only the indwelling Spirit can take us home [Romans 8:11].

As for the time, perhaps we are not given to know this, but to watch for the midnight cry. Of all things that come to mind, one stands out above all the rest, the threatening crisis in the Middle East. Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, and many other Arab/Islamic countries, are all targeted for destruction according to the Bible.

In real time, we are only 24 hours or less away from an incident that could unleash the greatest conflict since World War II, one that will lead to the 7 year Peace Treaty of Daniel 9:27. It will come swiftly and terribly upon a blinkered, oil depleted church that refuses to receive the Holy Spirit and believe the Word of God.

The prophet Daniel was told to “shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase” (12:4). When knowledge increases it means that it becomes greater over time, especially the time of the end.

Before Rosh Hashanah 2008, we did not think that this appointed time would be delayed, yet it stands clear in the Word of God. Since then, as prophesied through Daniel, our knowledge of these things has increased, and will continue to increase until the end.

Let us not, therefore, despise these things and quench the Spirit of Prophecy. If you perchance have joined the ranks of those who have now become disillusioned or indifferent to the Lord’s coming because of His delay, let the final words of Hebrew chapter 10, as quoted from the vision of Habakkuk, speak to you; “Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him” (Heb 10:38).

It is not for nothing that the final verses of this chapter speak so strongly to us, for they clearly envision this difficult and potentially destructive time in which we now find ourselves.

We are in a new dispensation, as it were. The Church Age as we know it, is over, and all that remains of it is a micron of time called the delay.

The Rapture, for the first time, is now imminent, and the destiny of millions of Christians, the wise and the foolish, is about to be determined for eternity. For this reason the writer to the Hebrews exhorts us so, saying, “Do not cast away your confidence which has great reward” (10:35), and “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of YHWH (God), you may receive the promise” (10:36).

That promise is the Rapture, which, after a “very, very, small space of time” is coming “and will not tarry” (10:37).

No more do we measure the time, for this we have done, but let our ears and our eyes be focused on what is to come, so that when it comes, we may be ready to “go out to meet Him!”

This article was made possible with much help from two friends.

© 2008 Longtom Radio. Some right reserved. Free to copy and distribute.

So look up! Take heart! One of the things I have learned over the last few years studying Bible Prophecy is that it is difficult to see the full meaning of many prophecies. We now know - the Bridegroom was delayed, but He is coming soon! Be ready!

Maranatha

Oh, Well....

Since it is now past sundown in Jerusalem, it looks like God did not agree with my interpretation of His signs.

Bummer.

Maranatha

Blood Moons Rising

On June 11, 2008, at the Maranatha Chapel in San Diego, Pastor Ray Bentley interviewed Mark Biltz. Mark Biltz is the pastor at El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, WA. A webcast of the interview is here. Skip about 42 minutes into this church service to get to the beginning of the interview.

I have written three articles concerning the topics covered in this interview. The material in these articles is derived almost entirely from this interview, and I want to be sure to give credit where credit is due: Mark Biltz for explaining so clearly and effectively the nature of God’s feast days as prophecy, and for discovering the relationship of the four total lunar eclipses and two solar eclipses in the years 2014 and 2015 to the feast days, and their implications, and Ray Bentley for conducting an excellent, very coherent, interview.

The three articles covers roughly these three topics:

1. God’s Feast Days as Prophecy;
2. Why we can expect the Rapture to occur on Rosh Hashanah (The Feast of Trumpets), and the Gentile Church’s misinterpretation of Jesus’ words concerning the timing of His coming; and
3. The findings of Mark Biltz (and others) regarding the eclipses in 2014 and 2015, and what they might tell us about the timing of the Lord’s return.

This is the third of these articles.

When Pastor Biltz saw a photo of a total lunar eclipse over the Dome of the Rock earlier this year, it stirred his memory and curiosity. He remembered the verse in Joel (Joel 2:31), "The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes." He also recalled Mark 13:24, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light…."

The plain meaning is that these passages refer to solar and lunar eclipses.

As it turns out, NASA has a web site that has tables of solar and lunar eclipses for thousands of years. These web sites are:

1. lunar eclipses - http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat/LEcatalog.html
2. solar eclipses - http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/solar.html
   
   

Pastor Biltz noticed that NASA had commented on a series of four total lunar eclipses in a row in 2014 and 2015, calling them a "tetrad." The dates didn't seem to mean anything, until he realized that he should be looking at the dates in the Biblical, Hebrew calendar, not our Gregorian calendar. (You can download a good Biblical calendar from aish.com. On the left click on "holidays", go to the bottom for free Hebrew calendar download.

When he looked at them in the Hebrew calendar, he found that the first lunar eclipse in 2014 is on Passover. The second is on the first day of Succoth (Feast of Tabernacles). That seemed pretty unusual. Then he noticed that in 2015 they are on Passover and Succoth again! A lunar eclipse (blood moon) on the first and last of God's feasts for two years in a row!

The next question was, how often does this happen?

In this century there are other tetrads, but none occur on the festivals. In the last century, the last time there was a tetrad on Passover and Succoth was in 1967 and 1968, associated with the Six Day War when Jerusalem came back into the hands of the Jewish people. The next previous time was 1949 and 1950, marking Israel becoming a nation on May 14, 1948.

In the 1800s, no tetrads at all. In the 1700s, no tetrads at all. In the 1600s, no tetrads at all. In the 1500s, 5 or 6 tetrads but none on Passover and Succoth.

In 1492, Columbus (who was Jewish and a believer in Christ) sailed for America on the 9th of Av. All the Jews were kicked out of Spain on the 9th of Av in 1492. In 1493 & 1494 there was a tetrad on Passover and Succoth.

As an aside, the 9th of Av is a really, really, really bad day in Jewish history! When the 10 spies brought the bad report of the Promised Land, and Joshua and Caleb brought the good report, this was the 9th of Av. The 10 spies became cursed in Jewish history for rejecting the land. When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple in 587 BC, it was burnt to the ground on the 9th of Av. In 70 AD, Titus and the Roman 10th Legion destroyed the temple and burned it to the ground on the 9th of Av. In 1290 all the Jews were kicked out of England on the 9th of Av. In 1492 all the Jews were kicked out of Spain on the 9th of Av. WW I started on the 9th of Av. Hitler's proclamation to kill the Jews was issued on the 9th of Av. And Israel evacuated the Gaza strip on the 9th of Av. Truly a bad day for the Jews!

What about eclipses? Throughout the Scriptures, a blood moon (total lunar eclipse) is a bad sign for Israel and a total solar eclipse is a bad sign for the nations (the gentiles).

We've talked about lunar eclipses. What about solar eclipses in those years? A total solar eclipse occurs in 2015 just before Nissan 1, ending one religious year and beginning the next. Nissan 1 is the day Moses set up the Tabernacle and the Glory of God fell from heaven, marking a new beginning. On the Feast of Trumpets in 2015 is another solar eclipse (a partial eclipse).

We have seen that God has used these Tetrads on His holy days to provide a sign to the world. It seems reasonable that He is doing it again. Although no one knows God's timetable, He just might be marking the return of Jesus Christ with these signs. If we make the assumption (and it is only an assumption) that Jesus returns in 2015, we know the Tribulation is seven years making the beginning of the Tribulation in 2008. Yes, this year! We also remember that many believe that Jesus will Rapture His church on the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah this year (2008) is on September 30 and October 1.

One other set of signs seems to point to the beginning of the Tribulation this year. This has to do with a three week period known as the Dire Straits.

The Dire Straits begin on the 17th of Tamuz, in the summer time. This is the day the Israelites worshipped the golden calf. The 17th of Tamuz is the same day Nebuchadnezzar broke through the Northern walls before he destroyed the Solomon's temple, and the same day the missiles went through the Northern border of Israel at the beginning of the last Lebanon war.

They end on the 9th of Av, three weeks later. During this time, Jews are seeking God and repenting for the sins of their forefathers.

The next three solar eclipses occur 3 years in a row right in the middle of the Dire Straits, on the last day of Tamuz and on the 1st of Av. The first one occurred this year on August 1, the 1st of Av. Things have been very interesting since then, haven't they?

Does this prove that Jesus will Rapture His church this year? No. No, it does not. No one knows the mind of God.

But it could be this year! The signs are pointing to it!

"Earthquakes in various places"

In Mark 13:8, Jesus said "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains."

Can anyone who sees this chart doubt that the birth pains have begun, at least for earthquakes?

This information is derived from the USGS website. I did not go back earlier than 1970 because I was not sure about the reliability of the data for earlier dates.

Note that the data for 2008 is incomplete.