By Bill Salus
LISTEN NOW TO THE AUDIO VERSION OF THIS EDITION.
Welcome to Prophecy News-Stand, the Bible Newspaper, where today’s current events are closely examined from the prophetic perspective.
Did you know that the Bible has much to say about the days in which we live? Many of today’s current events have profound prophetic implications. Romans 1:16 declares that the Good News Gospel is God’s powerful plan to rescue all who put their trust in HIM. This starts with the Jewish people and then transfers on to everyone else.
ISRAEL OPERATION CAST LEAD
Following biblical protocol let’s begin with the Jewish people. The nation of Israel recently completed their 22-day military excursion into the Gaza territory called Operation Cast lead. Coincidentally, which is not a term the Rabbi’s typically like to use, this decisive I.D.F. campaign concluded just days before the $170 million dollar Obama-thon presidential inauguration. This operation left the Hamas terrorist agency turned political party; wondering if they were just smote by some divine judgment from the Jewish God Jehovah!
The Israeli Defense Forces turned the Hamas tables upside down one by one and their Arab friends and Persian partners, like Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah couldn’t do a feeble thing about it. There they all stood on the sidelines flexing their muscles and rattling their Islamic sabers while Israel went about the house cleaning business of dismantling much of the Hamas infrastructure and shutting down many of their weapons smuggling tunnels out of Egypt.
Hamas put all of their friends in the most precarious position. Geopolitical circumstances in all the respective Middle East countries were not conducive for them to participate militarily at this present time. Iran is just a month or so away from having their first nuclear weapon, the Hezbollah have important elections in June 2009, and Syria is certainly not ready to go it alone against Israel again. They have been there and done that unsuccessfully in 1948, 1967, and 1973.
Then of course there’s Egypt and Jordan who hang on to flimsy peace treaties with Israel by the skin of their chattering teeth. Both nations were almost forced to make the bitter decision of siding with the Hamas to save face with the Arab League or face the threat of being cut off from future millions of dollars of international an American aid by warring against Israel. This coupled with the fact that both Egypt and Jordan still possess a genuine fear of the Israeli Defense Forces, kept both nations on the sidelines as the I.D.F. swept through Gaza.
So there they embarrassingly stood, the Hamas, with their masks on but their pants down, wishing they had checked in with their Islamic friends first before launching their missiles toward Israel’s nuclear power plant in Dimona. What were they thinking that Israel would stand by idly while the Hamas tried to create a Middle East Chernobyl scenario?
My friends these are no longer the days of tit for tat. Israel has recently announced their new policy is RETALIATION. The Palestinians are no longer lobbing stones at the Israeli’s. They are launching Iranian made Fajr 3 missiles and, in the military scheme of things, these weapons are mere toys compared to the arsenals developing in the broader Middle East. Therefore, according to most of the political leaders inside of the Knesset, Israel has decided to no longer operate under the policy of RESTRAINT. With Israeli elections coming up on February 10th of this year, we shall see if Restraint or Retaliation will be the future policy of Israel’s government.
In the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead, it may not be a safer world, but at least for the brief moment it has become a safer Israel. However; since Hamas is currently recovering, regrouping, and talking to Iran about re-arming, this could merely be the calm before the next Mideast storm. What can be gleaned from this recent I.D.F. operation?
Let’s open our Bibles and look through the prophetic lens for a moment. Ezekiel chapter 37 tells us that the Jewish people would someday experience a holocaust condition, and that is exactly what occurred during World War II. Ezekiel went on to declare, that out from that grave condition their God Jehovah would miraculously part the world Seas of the Gentile nations and bring them back once again into the Holy Promised Land of Israel.
As it was written, so it was done and from 1948 up until the present many Jewish people have made aliyah back into the restored Jewish State of Israel.
The prophet Ezekiel told us approximately 2600 years ago that the Jews would arrive into the HOLY LAND as refugees with one eye on the farm, but they would soon emerge into an exceedingly great army with the other eye to be focused upon the fight. War after war in 1948, 1967, and 1973 with the surrounding Arab nations, Israel was forced to produce these Israeli Defense forces, and what the world may have recently witnessed in the Middle East theatre was the opening scenes for the massive war events about to come around the prophetic corner.
Two major Israeli war prophecies loom in the not so distant future. Psalm 83, the likely first war event, uncovers a yet to be fulfilled prophecy that calls for the emergence of an Arab confederacy that will seek to wipe Israel off of the map. This confederacy is to be comprised of Palestinians, Syrians, Saudis, Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese, and will likely include their terrorist bedfellows, the Hezbollah, Hamas, and Al-Qaeda. All of these populations have Israel surrounded geographically today.
LO AND BEHOLD ISRAEL WINS! According to Ezekiel 25:14, Obadiah 1:18 and Ezekiel 37:10 the Israeli Defense Forces end up as the VICTORS and in so doing achieve the title of being Ezekiel’s “exceedingly great army”. Yes my friends the dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision can fight and as assuredly as I write to you today, they are becoming a finely fashioned military instrument.
But Israel’s ecstatic stint with peace in the Middle East in the aftermath of Psalm 83 is likely to be short lived as a much more powerful prophetic episode follows on the heels of Psalm 83 like a Goliath shadow. According to Ezekiel’s next two chapters, 38 & 39, Russia will lock arms with Iran in a nine member nuclear equipped consortia and come after Israel’s Arab spoils of war!
NUCLEAR IRAN
That brings us to the next newsworthy topic: Iran. Many military experts believe that the Rogue State of Iran will have its first nuclear weapon in March of 2009. By way of quick review let’s remember that in February of 2005, Russia and Iran signed their nuclear agreement, which was intended to turn Iran into a nuclear nation for civilian purposes. To Israel’s chagrin but nobody’s surprise, later in October of that same year, Iran hosted “the world without Zionism” conference, during which point Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or "ahma-genocide" as famous Christian author Joel Rosenberg likes to refer to him, called for Israel to be wiped off of the map.
Hmm, let’s put on our rocket scientist caps for a moment. Russia gives Iran nuclear potential, and then Iran, knowing that it will someday be able to have a nuclear weapon, declares that it would like to use that weapon to wipe Israel off of the map. Does 2 plus 2 = Ezekiel 38 & 39, the Russian – Iranian led invasion of Israel, commonly referred to in the Old Testament as the Gog of Magog invasion? Only time will be the judge.
So then, my friends, as we leave the Prophecy News-Stand for today, let’s remember to keep our television sets turned on and our Bible pages flipped open, for these are indeed powerful days and exciting times. Has the world hourglass made its final turn and are the grains of sand running low in the Middle East? We’ll find out more next time when we meet again at the Prophecy News-Stand.
LISTEN NOW TO THE AUDIO VERSION OF THIS EDITION.
Welcome to Prophecy News-Stand, the Bible Newspaper, where today’s current events are closely examined from the prophetic perspective.
Did you know that the Bible has much to say about the days in which we live? Many of today’s current events have profound prophetic implications. Romans 1:16 declares that the Good News Gospel is God’s powerful plan to rescue all who put their trust in HIM. This starts with the Jewish people and then transfers on to everyone else.
ISRAEL OPERATION CAST LEAD
Following biblical protocol let’s begin with the Jewish people. The nation of Israel recently completed their 22-day military excursion into the Gaza territory called Operation Cast lead. Coincidentally, which is not a term the Rabbi’s typically like to use, this decisive I.D.F. campaign concluded just days before the $170 million dollar Obama-thon presidential inauguration. This operation left the Hamas terrorist agency turned political party; wondering if they were just smote by some divine judgment from the Jewish God Jehovah!
The Israeli Defense Forces turned the Hamas tables upside down one by one and their Arab friends and Persian partners, like Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah couldn’t do a feeble thing about it. There they all stood on the sidelines flexing their muscles and rattling their Islamic sabers while Israel went about the house cleaning business of dismantling much of the Hamas infrastructure and shutting down many of their weapons smuggling tunnels out of Egypt.Hamas put all of their friends in the most precarious position. Geopolitical circumstances in all the respective Middle East countries were not conducive for them to participate militarily at this present time. Iran is just a month or so away from having their first nuclear weapon, the Hezbollah have important elections in June 2009, and Syria is certainly not ready to go it alone against Israel again. They have been there and done that unsuccessfully in 1948, 1967, and 1973.
Then of course there’s Egypt and Jordan who hang on to flimsy peace treaties with Israel by the skin of their chattering teeth. Both nations were almost forced to make the bitter decision of siding with the Hamas to save face with the Arab League or face the threat of being cut off from future millions of dollars of international an American aid by warring against Israel. This coupled with the fact that both Egypt and Jordan still possess a genuine fear of the Israeli Defense Forces, kept both nations on the sidelines as the I.D.F. swept through Gaza.
So there they embarrassingly stood, the Hamas, with their masks on but their pants down, wishing they had checked in with their Islamic friends first before launching their missiles toward Israel’s nuclear power plant in Dimona. What were they thinking that Israel would stand by idly while the Hamas tried to create a Middle East Chernobyl scenario?
My friends these are no longer the days of tit for tat. Israel has recently announced their new policy is RETALIATION. The Palestinians are no longer lobbing stones at the Israeli’s. They are launching Iranian made Fajr 3 missiles and, in the military scheme of things, these weapons are mere toys compared to the arsenals developing in the broader Middle East. Therefore, according to most of the political leaders inside of the Knesset, Israel has decided to no longer operate under the policy of RESTRAINT. With Israeli elections coming up on February 10th of this year, we shall see if Restraint or Retaliation will be the future policy of Israel’s government.
In the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead, it may not be a safer world, but at least for the brief moment it has become a safer Israel. However; since Hamas is currently recovering, regrouping, and talking to Iran about re-arming, this could merely be the calm before the next Mideast storm. What can be gleaned from this recent I.D.F. operation?
Let’s open our Bibles and look through the prophetic lens for a moment. Ezekiel chapter 37 tells us that the Jewish people would someday experience a holocaust condition, and that is exactly what occurred during World War II. Ezekiel went on to declare, that out from that grave condition their God Jehovah would miraculously part the world Seas of the Gentile nations and bring them back once again into the Holy Promised Land of Israel.
As it was written, so it was done and from 1948 up until the present many Jewish people have made aliyah back into the restored Jewish State of Israel.
The prophet Ezekiel told us approximately 2600 years ago that the Jews would arrive into the HOLY LAND as refugees with one eye on the farm, but they would soon emerge into an exceedingly great army with the other eye to be focused upon the fight. War after war in 1948, 1967, and 1973 with the surrounding Arab nations, Israel was forced to produce these Israeli Defense forces, and what the world may have recently witnessed in the Middle East theatre was the opening scenes for the massive war events about to come around the prophetic corner.
Two major Israeli war prophecies loom in the not so distant future. Psalm 83, the likely first war event, uncovers a yet to be fulfilled prophecy that calls for the emergence of an Arab confederacy that will seek to wipe Israel off of the map. This confederacy is to be comprised of Palestinians, Syrians, Saudis, Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese, and will likely include their terrorist bedfellows, the Hezbollah, Hamas, and Al-Qaeda. All of these populations have Israel surrounded geographically today.LO AND BEHOLD ISRAEL WINS! According to Ezekiel 25:14, Obadiah 1:18 and Ezekiel 37:10 the Israeli Defense Forces end up as the VICTORS and in so doing achieve the title of being Ezekiel’s “exceedingly great army”. Yes my friends the dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision can fight and as assuredly as I write to you today, they are becoming a finely fashioned military instrument.
But Israel’s ecstatic stint with peace in the Middle East in the aftermath of Psalm 83 is likely to be short lived as a much more powerful prophetic episode follows on the heels of Psalm 83 like a Goliath shadow. According to Ezekiel’s next two chapters, 38 & 39, Russia will lock arms with Iran in a nine member nuclear equipped consortia and come after Israel’s Arab spoils of war!
NUCLEAR IRAN
That brings us to the next newsworthy topic: Iran. Many military experts believe that the Rogue State of Iran will have its first nuclear weapon in March of 2009. By way of quick review let’s remember that in February of 2005, Russia and Iran signed their nuclear agreement, which was intended to turn Iran into a nuclear nation for civilian purposes. To Israel’s chagrin but nobody’s surprise, later in October of that same year, Iran hosted “the world without Zionism” conference, during which point Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or "ahma-genocide" as famous Christian author Joel Rosenberg likes to refer to him, called for Israel to be wiped off of the map.Hmm, let’s put on our rocket scientist caps for a moment. Russia gives Iran nuclear potential, and then Iran, knowing that it will someday be able to have a nuclear weapon, declares that it would like to use that weapon to wipe Israel off of the map. Does 2 plus 2 = Ezekiel 38 & 39, the Russian – Iranian led invasion of Israel, commonly referred to in the Old Testament as the Gog of Magog invasion? Only time will be the judge.
So then, my friends, as we leave the Prophecy News-Stand for today, let’s remember to keep our television sets turned on and our Bible pages flipped open, for these are indeed powerful days and exciting times. Has the world hourglass made its final turn and are the grains of sand running low in the Middle East? We’ll find out more next time when we meet again at the Prophecy News-Stand.
1 comment:
These are indeed exciting, and scary times Bill. Good article, and may I say that I thoroughly enjoyed your book.
Eli
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