Is the Rapture Close?

Is the Rapture Close? – Pastor Mike Taylor – https://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2021/04/is-rapture-close.html 50 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Deathis swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1st Corinthians 15:50-55) In the letter to the church at Corinth, Paul speaks of a “mystery”. This is not to be confused with a detective thriller or a murder mystery, as the word “mystery” comesfrom the Greek word “Musterion” which literally means “secret or a hidden thing”. Many in our modern era think of a mystery like Sherlock Holmes, or Agatha Christie, but this it not what Paul is referring to. Paul's use of the word “mystery” is defining a much hidden doctrine which describes the “rapture” or the Harpazo in Greek of the church, which literally means to “removeby force from one place to another”. This was a truth that had yet, not been revealed. You cannot claim it with the Day of the Lord, as the doctrine of the return of Christ to reign and rule and had been thoroughly written about in the Old Testament and itwas very much one of the oldest prophecies that was recorded in scripture. Just to name a few recorded in Daniel: “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 therewas 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. 2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:1-3) And the prophet Zechariah spoke of the same subject in chapter 12 of the book: 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. 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 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.” (Zechariah 12:8-10) and again in chapter 14 of the same book: 4 “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towardthe east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” (Zechariah 14:4) This is but two of the prophets that proclaim the “Day of the Lord” not to forget Amos and Joel, and near every Old Testament prophet from Isaiah to Malachi have somethingto say of the “Day of the Lord” so no, it was not a mystery to anyone who had read the Old Testament from the Torah into the major and minor prophets as they all made reference to the “coming of the Lord”. Besides the Apostle Paul, Jude the brother of Jesus made reference to Enoch who Jude proclaims him, the “seventh from Adam” who prophecied the same event noted in the OldTestament, that the coming of the Lord will come with “TEN THOUSANDS” of His saints......... 14 “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speecheswhich ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:14-15) This is the same picture that John gives us in the 19th Chapter of Revelation that closes out this book of the Apocalype and describes it even further... 11 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp 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 fiercenessand wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.” (Revelation 19:11-16) The Apostle Paul cannot be referring to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, as that was dealt with in many books of your Bible, Old and New Testament. So what is this “mystery” that Paul speaks of? Paul is speaking of a “hidden thing” that God had not made known to men before Paul. Where did Paul come to knowledge of thismystery he speaks of? Remember after Paul received his sight from Ananias and laying his hands on him ? Immediately, Paul went into the wilderness. I believe that was most likely the Arabiandesert and stayed there for 3 years before he even revealed himself to the other apostles and began preaching in the synagogues throughout Israel. I believe this is where Paul received his “revelation” of the mystery of the rapture of the church and it camedirectly from the “Master” Himself, Jesus Christ, who revealed things to him that were not lawful for men to hear. 2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up tothe third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” (2nd Corinthians 12:2-4) This is where Paul was “schooled” in the things of God that had not previously been revealed. It is where Paul introduced “faith through Grace” of our Lord God, and a “mystery” of the rapture of the church. Previously, even Jesus came and preached the Kingdom of God, but until Paul was given the visions or an eye witness to things that had not been revealed to other apostles. Paul spoke of these two mysteries that had never beenapproached by any other Biblical writer in the Old or the New Testament. First Rapture, then Tribulation As the end of this age draws to a close, I have many people who are beginning to wonder if we might already be in the Tribulation, even now. Quick answer to that questionis “We're not. Not just yet” Many people have a hard time grasping the belief of the Pre-tribulation rapture of the Church. I have some even in my own family who think I am “way out there” for believingsuch a thing, saying there is not any evidence for that belief found in the Bible. I have to smile to myself (or frown depending on the person saying it), as they can't see the forest for the trees, but rely on men to give them the interpretation of what theBible speaks of, instead of allowing the Bible to interpret itself. I had one man, who charged that there is not one word in the Bible that speaks of a “rapture” as if that meant something, as if they interpreted what is written. Then theywould see it staring back at them, as they read in the New Testament, especially the words written by Paul the Apostle. There are several words that are not in the Bible, like try to find the word “Bible” in scripture. Does its absence from the text mean there is “no Bible”? Of course not.It is something all people accept as they have the book in their lap which is defined as “what it is” even though the word is not mentioned. I have others who babble on mindlessly about “Margaret McDonald and C.I. Scofield, or John Nelson Darby, before pronouncing Dispensationalsim and the Pre-Tribulation Raptureas a modern day “invented” doctrine. I say “mindlessly” because they don't know what they are talking about, not realizing that the subject was doctrine within the 1st Century church, but was squashed by the likes of the Theocracy that ruled in the Dark Ages.Each are just parroting somebody else's research and embracing it as Gospel, not realizing that they have no basis for the belief, save to believe somebody else. I have dealt with the Margeret McDonald and John Darby argument in the past, and won't go into it further here, save to note that Paul wrote of the Rapture 1800 years beforethis little girl and the preacher who they credited this doctrine and proclaim it as nothing but myth of a deranged girl and a heretic of a preacher. SO WHAT DOES THE BIBLE ACTUALLY SAY? Before making an argument based on what the Bible doesn't say about the Rapture, it is most helpful to focus on what the Bible does say about the rapture. Beginning in a passage in the Old Testament, Isaiah first comes to mind when he spoke of us being hidden in our chambers. 19 “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shallcast out the dead. 20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21 For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more coverher slain.” (Isaiah 26:19-21) This almost mimics the words that Paul spoke of in the letters to the Corinthians as noted in the opening verses and to the Thessalonians: 13 “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14” 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 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: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1st Thessalonians 4:14-18) Again, our Lord Jesus told us that He would separate us from the coming wrath when He spoke to the Apostle John: 10 “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon theearth. 11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” (Revelation 3:10-11) I put part of the verse in bold italics to draw attention to the words “I will keep thee” which as I have in the past brought to your attention what this passage means asthe book of Revelation is written in Greek and the word used in Greek for this phrase “I will keep thee” is something I love to remind those who scoff at the idea of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture and I will do so here, as well. The word in Greek for the afore-mentionedphrase is the Greek word “EK”...if you look it up, this is the meaning of the word: ἐκ • (ek) (governs the genitive) (of place) (of motion) Out of, from, with the source of to denote change from one place or condition to another to express separation of distinction from a number (of position) outside, beyond (of time) from, since (of particular points of time) just, after during, in The means that our Lord will remove us out of the way, not through, but away from the time and the event that our Lord is speaking of...and He is speaking of the comingTribulation. The Rapture removed God's Church from their position on earth, to the heavenly realm, as Isaiah so aptly put it, that we will hide in our chambers, until the indignation is past. Side note.....I had a brother in Christ who was a firm post-tribulation believer until I showed him what Revelation 3:10 meant...He was a student of Greek and Hebrew andlooked it up...He came back amazed saying “you are right”...I coached him on Isaiah 26:19 about us entering our chambers until the indignation be past, and men rising from theirs graves...the discussion made him change his mind, and is now a pre-tribulationbeliever. Continuing, then to add to the doctrine, Paul speaks of in several places of “we are not appointed to God's Wrath”...and that is what the Tribulation and the Great Tribulationis all about. 8 “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” (1st Thessalonians 5:8-11) This is but one of the passages that speak of being saved “out of” and away from God's Wrath. 8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10) Notice from these verses, and there are many more that are peppered throughout the Bible, which describes the movement of believers from this earth to heaven, to be hiddenaway in our chambers. Some ask, what chambers...Jesus said it best and another clue to the sudden removal of the Bride of Christ from this earth... 2 “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2-3) Note that Jesus is creating a place for us and will come again to RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF (JESUS). Not coming to where we are, but bringing us to where He is....Jesus isat the right hand of the Father God in heaven and He will bring us to this third heaven and we will be adopted as sons and daughters in the “family of God”. This will all happen at the Bema Judgment seat of our Lord Jesus, where He gives rewards for serviceand we are adopted, because we will have the same rights as a spouse has with her husband...We are the Bride, and Jesus is our husband in the spiritual sense of the words. So by this short study, I pray you can see, that the mystery that Paul speaks of is not the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus, and the rapture of the Church and the SecondComing are NOT the same event And things that are different are NOT the same. What would be the point of Rapturing the Church then, anyway? The Lord returns to establish His kingdom on earth, so whypull out all the Christians? Who is He gonna rule? "And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And He shall set the sheep onHis right Hand, but the goats on the left." (Matthew 25:32-33) This verse highlights another problem with other views of the coming rapture of the church. If the post Tribulation model is correct, then if all the believers are removedat the Second Coming, that would also include the Tribulation saints. Where would the believers in mortal bodies come from, if they are raptured at the Second Coming? Who would be able to enter into Christ's Kingdom? Enquiring minds want to know. The answer would be no one, as all rebellion has been extinguished and the saints have beenchanged, so the Post Tribulation model doesn't make sense when reading God's Word. LET US NOT FORGET DANIEL Then there is Daniel's 70 week prophecy. The Church was absent for the first sixty-nine weeks -- the countdown was suspended at the Cross so the Church could be born. Daniel makes it clear that all 70 weeks are determined upon Israel. "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should bearrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." (Revelation 19:7-8) If the Bride is made ready to accompany Christ to the earth at the Second Coming, (while part of the bride is still on earth during the Tribulation) then how does the Bride(the Church) also come with Christ at His Return? You see, it doesn't make sense, if you believe any other rapture model. Those who are tribulation Saints are not the church. They are saints, as we are, but they are not the Bride. They are the guest at the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb.” Which speaks of the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins. The wise didn't let their lamps go out, or the sign of the Holy Spirit. Those that let their lamps go out, were overcome with the evils and the persecution of this world and arenot allowed into the marriage as guest. There is the example of Enoch: "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." (Genesis 5:24) Not only does Enoch prefigure the Rapture, note that Enoch's Rapture was pre-Flood, and not mid-Flood or post-Flood. The Scriptures are plain, clear and concise on the topic of a pre-Tribulation Rapture -- provided one interprets the Bible literally, instead of figuratively or symbolically. While no man knows the day of the hour, it doesn't stop some folks who have popped up on my Christian forums to state that the rapture of the Church was April 6th. No really!!The guy was serious, although I have not had a response from him on his “little error”. Then I have another “sister in Christ” who proclaims that the rapture will “definitely” be during the year of the Jubilee and will end on April the 19th...so Jesus willcome between now and then. What will each do when their predictions come to nothing? Do they want to look like another Harold Camping and destroy their witness? The Bible makes clear that we don't know the day or the hour, but we know the season. WE are “definitely” in the season of the Lords return. Jesus said that there was one key to let us know the hour is at hand. ISRAEL THE KEY TO END TIME PROPHECY 32 “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:32-26) It is the only sign Jesus gave for the timing of His return. Oh, we'll see many things that Jesus laid out to be looking for in the same chapter, BUT the birth of Israelwas the sign of a generation would not pass who saw Israel reborn in a day, and would see Jesus back on earth reigning and ruling for 1000 years. He told us in His Word that a generation is 70 years, 80 years by strength, but is full of sorrow and then wefly away. (Psalm 90) Simple math will show that the season is right upon us. We don't know the day or the hour, but the timing of His return could be any year that Paul spoke in the opening passage, which is a reference to the Feast of Trumpets. Paul speaksof the “last Trump” which is used to end the autumn feast every year. Now Jesus fulfilled each “Feast” on the very day of the Jewish observances, as they are not Jewish, but given to all mankind as a plan of redemption. The next one is thecoming Feast of Trumpets, which has the “last Trump” that Paul speaks of . As God is a God of order, then logically and prophetically, God will keep the fall Feast observances in order, as He did the Spring feast, and I look and listen for the sound of a trumpetevery fall about that time. Will it be this year, next year, and a year after that? A generation of the rebirth of Israel is 73 years this May...how much time does the Church have to wait before Jesus breaks through the clouds and cries aloud “Come up Hither”?...Itmay be sooner than anyone of us can imagine. The Pre-Tribulation Rapture is often called the "Blessed Hope" by those who look for His return before the Tribulation begins. Those who believe the Church will go throughthe Tribulation sneeringly call it the 'Great Escape'. Don't let anybody steal away your Blessed Hope: "For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep inChrist are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." (1st Corinthians 15:16-19) Praise our God, the rapture happens before the Tribulation, and if you look around you, Tribulation is festering on our front door steps. You can call it the “Blessed Hope”, or the “Great Escape”, but be not fooled my friend, He IS COMING and with the state of Global affairs, it can't be much longer. DON'T BE CAUGHT BY SURPRISE Will you be ready? We only have possibly a short time before Jesus breaks the heavens and splits them wide open and the tribulation starts in earnest with the pouring outof His Righteous Wrath that grows stronger as time passes by. We know in our spirits that the time is close at hand. Again. Will you be ready.? How do you get ready? Believe these next verses in your heart and soul and repent of your sins and follow Jesus and you will be ready. 16” For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18) Then confess to your friends and loved ones what Jesus just did for you. 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 10:8-11) That is the key. I know it sounds simple, but that is the beauty of the Gospel. It is so simple, even a small child can grasp the meaning of those Words when believed intheir spirit. I did it when I was 10 years old...one of my grandsons was 6 years old and knew exactly what he was doing, as we questioned him. It is not age specific, but heart specific....open your heart to the calling of the Holy Spirit, as He wants to saveyou right now. Do it before the Lord returns, and you then have to endure the horror that is coming...called the Wrath of God, or the Tribulation. This is pastor Mike Taylor, praying you make that decision for Christ right now, and don't put it off one more minute, as you are not promised tomorrow....AS Today is theday of salvation...not tomorrow....If you need prayer, counseling, or just a listening ear, then email me at pastormiketaylor@yahoo.com, or visit me online at my blog for more biblical lessons from the Word of God.. God bless you all…TILL WE MEET AT JESUS FEET VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

Should We Be Bracing Ourselves For “The Beginning of Sorrows”?

Should We Be Bracing Ourselves For “The Beginning of Sorrows”? - by Michael Snyder - http://endoftheamericandream.com/should-we-be-bracing-ourselves-for-the-beginning-of-sorrows/ If things are so wonderful, then why do so many people feel a deep sense of unease about what is ahead? I think that the reason why our society is so obsessed with apocalypticmovies and television shows is because most of us realize on some level that we are living in an apocalyptic generation. As I have been documenting in my articles over the last several months, the clock is ticking for humanity. If we continue to do thingsthe way we have been doing them, our society will inevitably collapse. Even now, virtually all of our systems are exhibiting signs of failure, and yet most of us continue to live our lives as if they party will never end. But it will end, and deep inside most of us know this. So how close are we to that point? Nearly 2000 years ago, Jesusdetailed some of the things that we should expect to see as conditions turn apocalyptic… And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. Could it be possible that “the beginning of sorrows” is nearly upon us? Without a doubt, we are living in a time when there are lots of rumors of wars. Russia and Ukraine nearly went to war this month, and if that would have happened the U.S.would have definitely gotten involved, and that could have led us directly into World War 3. Meanwhile, the U.S. and China are now closer to military conflict than they have been at any point since the end of the Korean War. Taiwan is the main source of tensionat the moment, but there are other flashpoints that could cause war between our two nations to erupt as well. In the last 48 hours, however, developments in Israel have taken center stage globally. Dozens of rockets were fired into Israel on Saturday night, and terror groups arewarning that “worse was still to come”… Two terror groups in Gaza took responsibility on Saturday for the salvos of rockets fired at Israel overnight, saying the attack was in response to violent clashes in Jerusalemin recent days and that worse was still to come. Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades said that they were behind the 36 rockets fired at Israel,linking the attack to the unrest in and around the Old City. Everyone knows that a major war is going to erupt in the Middle East at some point. It is just a matter of time. Switching gears, we continue to see large earthquakes shake our planet at a very alarming rate, and more volcanoes that were once very quiet continue to roar to life. On Sunday morning, it was Japan’s turn to experience a major eruption… The Sakurajima volcano in southwestern Japan erupted on early Sunday, sending a column of smoke over 2.3 kilometers above the crater, the weather agency said. Following the eruption at 1:09 a.m., the Japan Meteorological Agency issued an eruption alert, urging people in the cities of Kagoshima and Tarumizu in Kagoshima Prefectureto protect themselves from potential impact of the volcanic activity. Of course those that follow my work on a regular basis know that the volcano in Japan that I really have my eye on is Mt. Fuji. When it finally blows, the death toll willbe off the charts. Needless to say, “pestilence” has been a major theme over the past year as well. We are being told that the number of new coronavirus cases just hit a brand new record highglobally, and it appears that this pandemic will be with us for the foreseeable future. But if we really are moving into “the beginning of sorrows”, we should expect even more “pestilences” to strike the globe, and they will be even worse than what we haveexperienced so far. As for “famines”, the good news is that nobody in the United States is starving at the moment. But I did just publish an article in which I talked about how global food prices are now soaring, and this is causing hunger to rise very rapidly in impoverished areas ofthe planet. Coming into this year, the head of the UN’s World Food Program did warn that we would soon see “famines of biblical proportions”, and unfortunately we are well on the wayto that actually happening. On top of everything else, the global persecution of Christians continues to rise. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom just released a report that documented many of the specifics of this rising trend, and one expert that worked on thereport stated that “Christians are being persecuted around the world at a pace not seen since the first century”. Is it just a coincidence that all of these things are happening at the same time? At this point, even some of the top faith leaders in the entire nation are acknowledging that we have entered a very ominous time. For example, just consider a statementthat James Dobson just made… “Though I am not a prophet, it appears to me that divine judgment has befallen our nation. The evil one, Satan (who always has only been able to operate within parameterspermitted by the Lord, e.g., Job 1:7, 12), appears to be unleashing his assault on our culture with even greater ferocity. He is creating chaos in our cities and schools, and is stalking the halls of government. It is as though, because we have replaced thetruth with a lie, God has given us over to a reprobate mind. (Romans 1:25, 28),” Dobson explained. “Why do I draw such a conclusion? It is because our nation is divided into warring camps, with violence and pestilence plaguing the land. Sixty-two million babies have beenmurdered in cold blood, and hundreds of millions of additional federal dollars have been allocated to expand the unborn holocaust. And the institutions of marriage and the family are under siege. Our birthrate is falling, and our children are being taughthate and sexual perversion in our government schools. How can a holy God look upon such debauchery and stay His righteous hand? He cannot.” And during a recent interview with Todd Starnes, Franklin Graham came to a very similar conclusion… “Christians need to get on their knees and pray that God would intervene and somehow save this nation or give us more time because I believe judgment is coming,” said Graham. “I really do, Todd, I think God’s judgment is coming.” Are they right? Have we really reached the point of no return? People have been sounding the alarm for decades, but up to now we have always been given more time to turn things around. Unfortunately, at some point we will completely run out of time, and many believe that day is fast approaching. ---------------------------------------------------------------- VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

The Great Awakening?

The Great Awakening? - By Terry James - https://www.raptureready.com/2021/04/27/the-great-awakening-by-terry-james/ Recently, a well-known evangelist was saying on the TV program he and his wife host that a Great Awakening is coming. This is what I’ve heard over the months since the timethe 2020 presidential election approached. “The Great Awakening is on its way” continues to be the declaration by many of the conservative ilk in the arena of government, politics, and the ideological arena of societal and cultural thought. By this, these proponents of that belief, I infer, mean that the people of the world—particularly those of the United States—will awaken en masse to the evil the radicalleftists of the world and nation are perpetrating. This was the first time, however, that I heard a person I considered to be a truly believing Christian leader of his spiritual magnitude say that a Great Awakening is onthe way. I must be fair and tell you that I didn’t listen to the program, so can’t say for certain what he meant by the term; I can only say that he and his wife had as their guest that morning Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas.They were going to talk about Dr. Jeffress book involving Bible prophecy, so I presume the term the host used in his promotion means the same Great Awakening in general, as predicted by the secular proponents of the matters involved in that term. Whether theTV show host was referring to a geopolitical/cultural/societal awakening or one of a spiritual nature, I don’t know. The fact is, though, that the term “the Great Awakening” is used more and more often in venues outside of mainstream media. The people favoring things proposed by the termlook for there to be an uprising by the vast majority. These will, it is believed, grow in such resistance and opposition to the so-called “woke” movement and all attendant to that insanity that the evil it all represents will be forced back into the proverbialbox that restrains such deviation from normalcy. In the world of those who are Bible believers, I perceive a mindset that equates the term “Great Awakening” with the matter many believe is a coming, worldwide revival.These declare that before Christ’s return at Armageddon there will be a tremendous turning to God. In some cases, they declare that a great multitude of souls will be saved in this predicted revival movement. Many among those who believe that we are seeing a “Great Awakening” in the spiritual sense thought that Donald Trump’s election and subsequent support for faith-based causeswas the onset of this “revival.” The economy and many social and cultural changes were, it seemed, poised for things improving to the point that America would be made great again in the sense the Founding Fathers intended. We were to again become a “Christian” nation, as in America’s founding. We wanted to get back to thinking more of the good of everyone rather than the uplifting of the few who rule rather than govern. That altruistic outlook was a noble one. That was something worthy of longing for, even though the nation has never been truly a “Christian” nation in the purest sense.There have always been the bad and ugly to go along with the good. But the Make America Great Again movement came to a jolting halt with the sudden appearance of COVID-19. Suddenly, the globalist agenda continues to be on the rise. The insanity represented by the proposals and demands the radical left envisioned for America—which we thoughtcould never be accepted by normal people—became the track the nation seems be following to its perhaps fatal detriment. So it seems that whether considering the term “the Great Awakening” or the term “great end-times revival,” either’s trajectory is on track to eventuate as thought. The movementis in the opposite direction. The way things are tracking, however, is in sync with Bible prophecy for the end of the age. Again, for those who are new as readers of our commentaries, the pre-Trib view of Bible prophecy is that before the Tribulation (the last seven years of this Age of Grace,or Church Age) arrives, Jesus Christ will call all believers to Himself in what is called the Rapture. Paul the great apostle foretells this in 1 Corinthians 4:51–55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. Jesus first gave indication of this great event in John 14:1–3,and later gave the promise to us through John in Revelation 3:10. Jesus, while on the Mount of Olives, just before His crucifixion, answered His disciples as to when He would return and the signs of His return. He gave a number of signalsto look for, which we have covered many times. He said that when we see these things (stage-setting signs) begin to come to pass we are to look up and lift up our heads for our redemption is drawing near. We’ve given details over and over about the Tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week). It will be a terrible time, Jesus forewarned, such as never was before, nor will everbe again. These issues and events are literally in every direction and are proliferating exponentially. We are not witnessing things that look as if we can anticipate a “Great Awakening.” Things don’t in any way appear that people, either the lost or believers in Christ, are turning en masse to God in complete repentance, obedience, or worship. I wish I could report that I observe otherwise, but I cannot. Just as Paul foretold, evil men and seducers are getting worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Thereprobate mindset prophesied by Paul in Romans 1:28 is front and center through our headlines. All that said, there is good news, however. God the Father in Heaven and God the Holy Spirit, who is everywhere all the time, is at work restraining wickedness at everylevel throughout this evil sphere. As bad as it seems, all is being prepared for God the Son—the Lord Jesus Christ—to make His appearance and put an end to the madness into which the world is devolving. Heaven’s Great Awakening is just around the corner of Bible prophecy. For believers in Christ, that much-wished-for end-times revival is but one twinkling-of-an-eye momentaway. The Rapture will bring for each and every child of God an awakening the likes of which is beyond fully knowing at this darkening, earthly moment. Every believer of this Church Age who has died will, in that glorious moment, awaken to new life that is everlasting. Those who are alive at that instant will have all sensesawaken to fantastic vistas that were beyond comprehension while in these earth-bound bodies. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians2:9) VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

Just a Matter of Time

Just a Matter of Time - By Daymond Duck - https://www.raptureready.com/2021/04/25/just-a-matter-of-time-by-daymond-duck-3/ It is the opinion of this writer that it is just a matter of time until several end-of-the-age prophecies will be fulfilled. Here are some recent related events that appear to verify this opinion. One, concerning the return of Israel at the end of the age,on Apr. 14, 2021, Israel’s 73rd Memorial Day on the Hebrew calendar, Israel’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Kokhavi, went to the Western Wall and told the Jewish people that Israel’s return to the Promised Land fulfills a prophecy in the Book of Jeremiah (Jer. 31:15-16). He said, “We are the generations of sons that returned to their borders. We are back. This time for good.” According to the Bible, Israel would return to the Promised Land at the end of the age, and they will not be removed again (Amos 9:15). Two, concerning world government, on Apr. 16, 2021, a groupof conservative Republicans announced plans to establish an “America First” caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. One Democrat has already called the group “A White Supremacist Caucus,” another said their perspective “hurts the country,” etc. Globalists hate patriotism, sovereignty of nations, walls on borders, etc. According to the Bible, there will be a world government at the end of the age (Rev. 13:7). Three, concerning world government or a borderless world, onApr. 14, 2021, it was reported that there has been a 380% increase of criminal aliens crossing at the Rio Grande Valley border sector. According to the Bible, wickedness will increase at the end of the age (days of Noah, Matt. 24:37). Four, on Apr. 12, 2021, former U.S. Congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard,was talking about the controversy between Russia and Ukraine when she said, “It is moving in a very dangerous direction.” Gabbard said, “Hundreds of millions of people dying and suffering, seeing their flesh being burned from bones. This is something you can’t even really imagine.” One Jewish writer, Adam Berkowitz, thinks she was referring to Zech. 14:12 and the Battle of Gog and Magog in the latter days and latter years, but the quote refers to somethingworse than Gog and Magog (the Battle of Armageddon). Nevertheless, Russia has amassed anywhere from 90,000-150,000 troops; more than 300 planes; hundreds of tanks; many helicopters and rocket launchers near Ukraine’s border;and more troops and weapons are on the way. A Russian official said the nations are “one step away from war.” About 2 weeks ago, the U.S. announced plans to send two warships to the area; Russia warned the U.S. to stay away, and Biden withdrew the ships. About that same time, the White House announced “unwavering support for Ukraine,” Russia warned the U.S. to “stay out of the conflict,” “for our own good,” and Biden seemedconfused about what to do. On Apr. 15, 2021, it was reported that Russia has imposed a naval blockade on Ukraine, and Russian troops are preparing to invade the nation. Perilous times are here, and anything could happen. Five, on Apr. 19, 2021, it was reported that the U.S. has openedbackchannel negotiations with Russia’s ally Iran about dropping U.S. sanctions on Iran and the U.S. restarting talks over the Iranian nuclear deal. The U.S. expressed its “displeasure” with Israel over some of her recent attacks on Iran (but said nothing about Iranian proxy attacks on Israel). The conflict between the two nations is growing worse, and Israel continues to let the world know that Israel will not permit Iran to have nuclear weapons. Despite what the Biden administration says, it continues to act like it is pro-Iran and anti-Israel (restored millions of dollars of U.S. aid to Palestinians; expressedsupport for Two-State solution, etc.). It is easy to believe that the U.S. will not defend Israel if the Battle of Gog and Magog breaks out (and that is exactly what God wants so the glory will be His). Six, concerning Covid, on Apr. 15, 2021, the CDC reported thefollowing facts on people in America that have been fully vaccinated for Covid for more than 2 weeks (cases in first 2 weeks following vaccination not counted). •More than 78 million people vaccinated as of Apr. 15, 2021. •Despite being fully vaccinated, approximately 5,800 Americans got Covid-19 more than 2 weeks later (about 1 in 172). •About 400 required treatment at a hospital (about 1 in 2,500). •74 died (about 1 in a million). •CDC officials say these numbers are low, and they are not concerned. •Critics say all the side effects are not being reported. Also, on Apr. 15, 2021, the CEO of Pfizer said fully vaccinated people will likely need a booster shot within 12 months and every year after that. Also, on Apr. 15, 2021, it was reported that the CDC says Covid cases are increasing in Michigan, and another lockdown is needed. Citizens need to understand that these vaccines have not been “approved” by the FDA; they are being “allowed” because there is a public health crisis (or a possible hoaxis being perpetrated on the public). Nothing was said about reports that Covid-infected people are crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, and the Biden administration is flying them to many destinations in theU.S. without isolating, treating, or tracking them. Seven, concerning the decline of America, the Second Comingand the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom on earth, on Apr. 15, 2021, Franklin Graham said what took place in the last U.S. election was wrong; he called for Christians to pray for God to intervene and save the U.S., he condemned the Democrat effortto stack the U.S. Supreme Court, and he called upon people to listen to God and seek His face because the U.S. is in great trouble. Graham added, “We see the whole world, nation after nation, shut down, and it’s just frightening when you see what’s taking place, but at the same time, I’ve read the lastpages of history. I know what God is going to do, and His Son is coming back, and he’s going to establish his kingdom here on this earth.” Eight, concerning vaccine passports and tracking people, onApr. 20, 2021, it was reported that Governors in 5 states (Fla., Idaho, Mont., Tex., and Utah) have signed Executive Orders banning mandatory vaccine passports. Nine, concerning the Covid Crisis and The Great Reset, an Op-Edin the Activist Post on Apr. 15, 2021, by Brandon Smith expressed some interesting thoughts. Smith believes: •The Covid Crisis and The Great Reset are beginning to sputter (the Covid death rate is less than expected; millions of Americans are refusing tobe vaccinated; state legislators are rejecting the enforcement of vaccine mandates, etc.). •Conservative Americans have become an obstacle, and perhaps the only obstacle, to the globalist agenda. •The globalists are obsessed; they cannot accept failure. They will not let this crisis go to waste, so they will probably try to worsen the CovidCrisis, perhaps create an alternative crisis, start a war, restart the riots in Democrat-run cities, or whatever. Smith is urging conservative Americans to watch for the globalists to come up with something else to push their agenda, and he is urging conservative Americans to continueto resist global governance. It is interesting that Smith believes the globalist agenda is sputtering, because most students of Bible prophecy agree that the Antichrist and his world government willbe restrained until the Church is Raptured. This writer does not know what is going on, but the globalists may be trying to get ahead of God’s appointed time, God may be answering prayer to restrain things, He maybe giving people more time to be saved, etc. Finally, if you want to go to heaven, you must be born again(John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins,cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this. -------------------------------------------------------- VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

A Prime Prophetic Indicator

A Prime Prophetic Indicator – Terry James - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ It seems to me that a primary issue is developing, and that Bible prophecy students might be wise to look carefully at it while movement progresses deeper into this yearand beyond. It is legitimate fodder for our focus, because it fits the stage-setting for prophetic fulfillment that follows a pattern that can be understood by those spiritually attuned in these closing days of the age. While it isn’t within our finite comprehension to be able to know precisely God’s controlling hand on things we see shaping for the windup of the age, we can certainly seewhat’s happening all around us. We believe in His prophetic Word, so we can know from what we see that Heaven’s light is exposing a schism, a division of normal human interaction from perverted, upside-down goings on. And that ripping of cultural and societalinteraction is becoming more dramatic and traumatic by the hour, when we consider the minute-by-minute news cycles. On the one side, there are those of us who want to live under America as founded. And this is a fair way to examine things, because most Americans of a certain age havebeen brought up under the national construct as founded. That is, we have a Judeo-Christian base as our understanding of conducting ourselves under normal conditions as defined by God-ordained principles. These were built into our Constitution. We were inculcatedunder a God-ordained blueprint for living. On the other side, there are those who strive to deconstruct our normality. We are to now accept new normals as our principles. Therefore, the Constitution must be changed. The party in power—which, in my view, stole the election through the most egregious actions and agencies imaginable—is almost daily bringing to Congress legislative proposalsthat will fundamentally alter (pervert) the nation as founded under principles God put into the brilliant minds of many of the Founding Fathers. For example, the past week or two have seen proposals that would change the Supreme Court from nine justices to thirteen. Those doing the proposing say we need this becausethe nation has grown, requiring more justices to handle the case loads. This is a totally specious argument, and the people in the majority party know it. They want to “pack the court” so they can negate the supposed conservative votes thatnow make the court a six-to-three conservative majority. This is a fallacy. With the chief justice coming down on the side of liberal opinions in almost every case, and at least two of the other members supposedly on the conservativeside wishy-washy in leaning one way or the other, it is hardly a definitively conservative court. The America as founded side can but watch while freedoms are attacked and eroded. The other side of the schism, the new normal side, cheers while America is taken fartherand farther away from those godly, founding principles. Black is called white, sweet is called bitter, and good is called evil, while the reprobate thinking increasingly controls and deconstructs constitutional safeguards. While the efforts to bring America as founded into a configuration conducive to constructing Antichrist’s platform of control, the evidence of swift movement toward theTribulation era is observable at the national and global levels. One prime matter involves the sophistry termed climate change. This, you will remember, has become the mantra of the political left. They had to change it from global warming to climate change because the temperatures kept getting abit cooler, not terribly warmer, and the ice of the polar regions wasn’t melting. There were no polar bears floating around on six-foot squares of ice because their habitat was destroyed—like the global warmists portrayed in heart-tugging videos. Just a week or so ago, a CNN technician was secretly recorded by a Project VERITAS operative. The CNN guy was boastfully saying that CNN had been instrumental in lying andslanting everything of an accusatory sort toward Donald Trump in order to destroy his presidency and give the Democrats the 2020 presidential election victory. The CNN technician was then recorded bragging that now that that had been accomplished, they planned to turn to climate-change issues and the dangers they present. These,he intimated, would be presented to the viewing public in the same deceptive way as was the Trump presidency. The fact is this deception and subterfuge of the American constitutional way has begun. John Kerry is in cahoots with America’s greatest enemy to begin the sophistry. The following sheds some light. China and the US say they are committed to working together and with other countries on tackling climate change. It comes after several meetings between Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and his US counterpart John Kerry in Shanghai last week. They both agreed on further specific actions to reduce emissions, a joint statement on Sunday confirmed… Ahead of his trip to Shanghai, Mr Kerry told CNN that China’s co-operation was “absolutely critical” to battle the climate crisis. “Yes, we have big disagreements with China on some key issues, absolutely. But climate has to stand alone,” he said. (“China and US Pledge Climate Change Commitment,” BBCNews, April 17, 2021) Yes. The climate-change matter is all important in the reprobate minds of the new administration. China is building a massive military presence surrounding Taiwan and threateningAmerica with military attack, but we must buddy up to these greatest of the world’s polluters on the matter of an issue that has no scientific validity that has been shown—only models of what might happen thirty years down the proverbial road. Climate change (Mother Earth worship) is destined, many believe, to be the religious centerpiece of the prophesied false prophet’s demand that Antichrist be worshiped. Interestingly, this is one of Pope Francis’ greatest rants—that the climate-change “problem” must be under the complete control of a changed world order. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13) VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

10 Signs That “Things Are Not Getting Better in America”

10 Signs That “Things Are Not Getting Better in America” - byMichael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/10-signs-that-things-are-getting-better-in-america/ Everything is great, and America is about to enter a golden new era that will be overflowing with peace, prosperity and happiness. If you believe that, there is a very largebridge that I would like to sell to you. There is certainly nothing wrong with being optimistic about the future, and personally I am very excited about the next chapters in my life. But if you think that the United States is heading in the right directionyou are not thinking straight. Evidence of our advanced state of decline is all around us, and yet we continue to embrace our self-destructive ways. Over the years, I have literally shared thousands of examples that show that our society is coming apart at the seams, and today I would like to share 10 more… #1 New York City was once one of the most beautiful cities inthe entire world, but now giant mountains of trash are piled up everywhere and approximately 2 million rats are rampaging all over the place. In an attempt to turn the tide, city officials plan to create a “City Cleanup Corps”… New York City is being forced to deploy an army of 10,000 cleanup workers in response to worsening problems with trash and rats. A newly created ‘City Cleanup Corps’ will be tasked with fighting the piles of garbage on the streets of the Big Apple, with complaints surging by 150% between March andAugust last year. After a $100 million cut to the city’s sanitation budget, filth and rodent infestations have become a common sight, with data revealing that waste tonnage rose 15% by theend of March compared to the early months of the pandemic. #2 In 2020, homicide rates increased by an average of more than30 percent in major U.S. cities, and now homicide rates in many of those cities are even higher in 2021… A Baltimore sanitation worker was fatally shot yesterday evening on his trash truck. The city has 94 homicides in less than four months. To the south, DC had two more homicides yesterday, bringing its tally to 62, up 41 pct over 2020. To the north, Philly has 156, up 31 pct. #3 In cities all over the United States, police officers areleaving the force in record numbers. For example, just consider what is happening in New York City… More than 5,300 officers — or roughly 15% of the force — at the New York Police Department either retired or put in their papers to leave in 2020, the New York Post reportedafter reviewing department data. In all, 2,600 officers simply left the job, while another 2,746 filed for retirement, bringing the total to a whopping 5,346. That figure marked a 75% increase over thenumber of officers who left the force during the previous year. #4 Meanwhile, police departments across the nation are havingan exceedingly difficult time recruiting new officers. In New Jersey, the number of qualified applicants is only a small fraction of what it was a few years ago… In some years the State Police would field between 15,000 and 20,000 applicants, according to Col. Patrick Callahan, the department’s acting superintendent. But they onlyhad a “historically low” 2,023 qualified applicants as of Thursday, about a week before deadline, Callahan said. #5 Less police officers will be needed if cities decide to simplystop enforcing the law. In Manhattan, a decision has been made to no longer prosecute prostitution at all… Manhattan’s DA has announced he will no longer prosecute prostitutes, and asked a court to dismiss nearly 6,000 related cases as part of a city-wide change in policy. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. said prosecuting these types of crimes does not make the city safer, ‘and too often, achieves the opposite result by further marginalizingvulnerable New Yorkers.’ #6 Earlier this month, Charlie Biello shared some data regardingthe explosion in commodity prices that we have seen over the last year… Lumber: +265% WTI Crude: +210% Gasoline: +182% Brent Crude +163% Heating Oil: +107% Corn: +84% Copper: +83% Soybeans: +72% Silver: +65% Sugar: +59% Cotton: +54% Platinum: +52% Natural Gas: +43% Palladium: +32% Wheat: +19% Coffee: +13% Gold: +3% But the Federal Reserve insists that inflation is “low” and that we don’t have anything to be concerned about. #7 The “most Googled sex question in 2020” certainly says awhole lot about where we are as a society today… Data from the online health clinic From Mars released this week indicates the most Googled sex question in 2020, with more than 2 million searches, was: “What are the symptomsof chlamydia?” #8 As I detailed earlier this month, cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea,and syphilis have all soared to all-time record highs in the United States. We want America to be great at a lot of things, but not at spreading sexually-transmitted diseases. #9 The western half of the country is in the midst of a multi-year “megadrought”, and 2021 is the worst year of that megadrought so far by a very wide margin. In fact, water levels are dropping so fast in Lake Powell and Lake Mead that authorities are on the verge of declaring “an official shortage” for the first time ever… The US Bureau of Reclamation released 24-month projections last week forecasting that less Colorado River water will cascade down from the Rocky Mountains through Lake Powelland Lake Mead and into the arid deserts of the Southwest and the Gulf of California. Water levels in the two lakes are expected to plummet low enough for the agency to declare an official shortage for the first time, threatening the supply of Colorado Riverwater that growing cities and farms rely on. #10 We have known for a very long time that government agenciesendlessly spy on us, but now even the Postal Service is tracking and collecting our social media posts… The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service has been quietly running a program that tracks and collects Americans’ social media posts, including those about plannedprotests, according to a document obtained by Yahoo News. The details of the surveillance effort, known as iCOP, or Internet Covert Operations Program, have not previously been made public. The work involves having analysts trawlthrough social media sites to look for what the document describes as “inflammatory” postings and then sharing that information across government agencies. When I visit my local Post Office I will never be able to look at the employees the same way again. What in the world is happening to us? Do we really need postal workers monitoring our Facebook accounts? If they are supposed to be stopping “extremism”, it doesn’t appear to be working because we continue to see regular riots in Portland, Seattle and other major cities acrossthe country. Sadly, the truth is that our society is coming apart at the seams all around us, and it is only going to get worse in the years ahead. America has been on the wrong path for decades, and all of the foolish decisions that we have made during those years are catching up with us in a major way. Of course we could always choose to reverse course and start heading back in the right direction, but we all know that isn’t going to happen any time soon. VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

The Three Witnesses to Jacob’s Trouble – Daniel, Jesus, and John – Part II

The Three Witnesses to Jacob’s Trouble – Daniel, Jesus, and John – Part II – Randy Nettles - https://www.rev310.net/post/the-three-witnesses-to-jacob-s-trouble-daniel-jesus-and-john-part-ii In Matthew 24:42-44, Jesus tells his disciples to “watch” and “be ready” for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. If Jesus was talking about the 2nd Comingand not the Rapture, why would he warn his followers to do these things? Christians will already be gone in the Rapture at this point (2nd Coming). Of course, this is only true if one is a pre-tribulation believer, as I am. Also, people living during the endtimes should be able to count 1290 days from the abomination of desolation until the end of Jacob’s trouble, according to Daniel 12:11. The only way this might not be possible is if the conditions are so bad on earth that it is no longer possible to keep trackof time, especially if it goes dark for an indefinite amount of time before His return. Mark 13 and Luke 24 give similar testimonies with a few added details. Jesus never mentions any time duration for the events of the Day of the Lord. As I mentioned in part 1, the Day of the Lord begins with the Rapture. In Revelation 4, John’s spirit was transported to heaven, as a typology of the Rapture, where he sawGod in His glory. He also saw 24 elders in white robes sitting on thrones, and they had crowns of gold on their heads. The Rapture must have already occurred as these saints were wearing crowns that symbolize their rewards that believers will receive at theJudgment Seat of Christ. John also witnessed the seven Spirits of God and the 4 cherubim. The elders and the cherubim were all worshiping their Lord God. What a sight that must have been (and willbe, when we witness it). By the way, 4 is the Biblical number for creation, so here we have God’s created beings, man and Cherubim (representing angels) worshipping God. There were 24 (4 x 6) elders representing man (man’s number is 6). Immediately following this Rapture typology, John witness’ the unsealing of the judgment scrolls by the only one in heaven and earth that was worthy enough to open it, JesusChrist. This occurs in Revelation 5. The number 5 is the Biblical number for grace. See Biblical Significance of the Number 5: Part I:: By Randy Nettles - Rapture Ready for more information. By God’s grace, Jesus was able to open the seals so God’s ultimateplan for redeeming mankind could be realized and finalized. When Jesus had taken the scrolls, the 4 cherubim and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having harps, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayersof the saints. And they sang a new song as described in Revelation 5:9-10. “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,and have made us king and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” “Then John looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures (cherubim), and the elders, and the number of them were ten thousand times tenthousand, and thousands of thousands (innumerable) saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth andunder the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!’ Then the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the twenty-fourelders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever” (Revelation 5:11-14). This great gathering and worship service takes place immediately before Jesus opens the seals which contain the wrath and judgment of God against unrepentant man. Beforeit’s over, all of God’s creation will be affected, including man, animals, fallen angels, and all of the earth. It is widely believed by most Bible scholars that Jacob’s trouble begins with the Antichrist signing the covenant with the many (Israel and others) as described in Daniel9:27. Shortly thereafter the A.C. (the first horseman of the apocalypse in Revelation 6:2) rides out in conquest after the opening of the first seal by Jesus Christ. The first half of Jacob’s trouble consists of the horrendous 7 seals and 7 trumpet judgmentsbeing poured out upon the earth and its inhabitants. Other events such as the 10 Kings one-world government, 144,000 messianic Jewish evangelicals and worldwide revival, religious system of Ecclesiastical Babylon, and the ministry of the two witnesses in Jerusalem,also take place in the first half of Jacob’s trouble. These judgments and events are described by John in Revelation 6-11. Revelation 11:1-2 describes the newly built third temple of God in Jerusalem and the court which is outside the temple. The first mention of a time duration is given here,as the Gentiles will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months (approximately 3.5 years) during the last half of Jacob’s Trouble. Revelation 11:3 talks about the two witnesses prophesying during the first part of Jacob’s Trouble for exactly 1260 days, clothedin sackcloth. When the two witnesses finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome, them, and kill them. “And their deadbodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (Revelation 11:8). Of course, this verse is referring to Jerusalem. Thanks to today’s technology all peoples of the earth will seetheir dead bodies and those in charge will not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. “ Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard aloud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them” (Revelation 11:11-12). Here we see another typology of the Rapture. Earlier John was raptured (spirit only) alive into heaven, and nowthe two witnesses, who were dead, are brought back to life and then raptured into heaven. In both cases, a loud voice from heaven said, ‘Come up here.’ Just as when Jesus ascended into heaven (10 days before the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost) “in a cloud” so do the two witnesses ascend into heaven in a cloud. Let’s not forget our (Christians of all ages) future rapture as described by Paul: “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Andthus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). “ In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake, seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave gloryto the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly” (Revelation 11:13-14). Seventh Trumpet: The Kingdom Proclaimed Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and Heshall reign forever and ever!’ (Revelation 11:15). “And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: ‘We give You thanks, O lord God Almighty, the One who is andwho was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, andthose who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:16-18), “Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and greathail”(Revelation 11:19). The 7th Trumpet ends the first part of Jacob’s Trouble. This is when the Antichrist takes absolute control of the world government system from the remaining 7 kings andbegins his hellish reign on earth. However, in heaven, the inhabitants are celebrating Jesus’ kingdom as if it has already begun; as per Revelation 11:15. I believe this is because they know how things are going to end. They know Jesus wins and Satan loses. Revelation 12 describes the events to take place during the mid-point of Jacob’s Trouble. In the Bible, 12 is the number for government perfection and rule, especially the12 tribes of Israel; so this chapter is aptly numbered as it deals mainly with Israel and Jacob’s trouble. Revelation 12:1-6 reads like a great pageant or production in heaven that portrays the mid-Tribulation events that are happening on the earth. The woman (clothedwith the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of 12 stars on her head) in verse 1 represents Israel. This description is reminiscent of the dream young Joseph had when he was 17 years old in the land of Canaan. “Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers,and said, ‘Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.’ So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, ‘What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shallyour mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?’ And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind” (Genesis 37:9-11). This dream did come true as his brothers and father did bow down to Joseph in theland of Egypt. Of course, in Revelation 12:1, Joseph himself is the 12th star. The child (a male child, who will rule the nations with an iron scepter) in vs. 2 is Jesus. This prophecy of Lord Jesus was first given by David in Psalm 2:8-9. “The Lord(God, the Father) has said to Me, You are My son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieceslike a potter’s vessel.” The dragon in vs. 3 is Satan and he is described as having 7 heads, 10 horns, and 7 diadems on his heads. This is referring to the Antichrist whom Satan is controlling, at this point. Satan tries to destroy the woman, Israel, but, “the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand twohundred and sixty days” (Revelation 12:6). Revelation 12:7-17 describes Satan and his angels fighting a war in heaven against Michael and his angels. Satan loses the war and is cast to the earth with his fallen angels, where they persecute the woman, “Butthe woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent” (Revelation 12:14). This reinforces Daniel’s prophecy of thesaints being given unto the hands of the beast for a “time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 7:25). “The dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of JesusChrist” (Revelation 12:17). Revelation 13 (the number for apostasy and rebellion) describes the two beasts of the end times. They are commonly called the Antichrist and the false prophet. The firstbeast is seen rising up out of the sea, indicating he is a Gentile. Revelation 13:2 describes the Gentile beast as having the same military characteristics of the first four beasts of Daniel 4-6. He will have the quickness and skill of a leopard, to strikeat his opponents, as did ancient Greece under Alexander the Great. The A.C. will have the strength and power of a bear-like Darius the Mead and Cyrus the Persian. He will have the ferociousness of a lion as did Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.The A.C. will have the might to crush his enemies as did the emperors of ancient Rome. He is the beast that rises like the phoenix out of the ashes of the old Roman Empire, for he will be a descendant of the empire that was Rome. He could come from the lineageof the Western (Italy/Rome) empire or the Eastern (Byzantine) empire. God will use the Antichrist to accomplish His will and judgment upon Israel and the nations who oppose God’s chosen people, just as He did with Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Cyrus,and Alexander. At this stage (mid-tribulation) the A.C. has killed 3 of the 10 Kings who have ruled during the first part of Jacob’s Trouble. The 7 heads of Revelation 13:1 refer to the remaining 7 kings, that have given their crowns (authority) to the beast.He now has all 10 crowns and absolute power and authority over the earth. “Authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation” (Revelation 13:7). Daniel 7 also describes this same beast with the 10 horns who subdue 3 of the horns/kings. John, whorepresents the New Testament, and Daniel, who represents the Old Testament, are in perfect harmony regarding the end of days known as the Day of the Lord. The A.C. receives supernatural help from Satan. “The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority” (Revelation 13:2). It is at this point the A.C. receivesa mortal wound and is killed, but his deadly wound is healed and he is resurrected from the dead. I believe this is when Satan indwells the body of the A.C. “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Lifeof the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). The A.C. is strengthened supernaturally by another beast coming up out of the earth. Many scholars believe this beast will be a Jew as he is said to come out of the earth,which symbolically speaks of Israel. He causes the peoples of the earth to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. “ He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceivesthose who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived” (Revelation 13:13-14). This is a great sin against God for it breaks the first 2 of the 10 Commandments: 1) “You shall have no other gods before me”(Exodus 20:3). 2) “You shall not make for yourselfa carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them” (Exodus 20:4-5). The false prophet was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should speak and cause all those who would not worship the imageto be killed. I believe this “image” could be some kind of a kit that people can assemble that contains a smart chip computer link that can cause the image to talk and to listen in on their conversations to see if they are worshipping the beast or not. Itcould even be a robot or android that resembles the A.C., or even possibly a hologram. “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell exceptone who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666” (Revelation 13:16-18). Of course, you know, 6 is thenumber for man. It is 1 shy of God’s perfect number 7. The number 3 (or 3 times) represents divine perfection. This 666 man will duplicate Satan’s error by attempting to take the place of God; and for this, he (and Satan) will pay the ultimate price…with hiseternal soul, in a place called the Lake of Fire. Randy Nettles VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

WORLD AT WAR: 5.1.21 - Taking inventory of the prophetic end times

Taking inventory of the prophetic end times - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com Since the election of Joe Biden as president, the world prophecy clock has advanced with disruption among those who are prophesied in the colossal end of days battle ofEzekiel 38 and by other prophets of the Bible. The prophecies of Christ in Matthew 24, of Daniel 9, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians (4 and 2 respectively), Psalm 83, Revelation 2, 13, and others all seem to be vibrating, awakening, and bear watching by the followersof Christ. Biden, like Obama before him, has shaken the spiritual dimension with his actions toward the major players such as Turkey, Iran, and most of all, Israel. Israel, in of itself, is experiencing a lack of stability and threats from all its bordersand from within. In Ezekiel 38:3-8, the Lord says, “Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: and I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and Iwill bring thee forth, and all thine army…Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them…against the mountains of Israel…” These areas coincide with modern Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and parts of Iraq, even Saudi Arabia. Biden is pressuring nations to release billionsof dollars impounded by sanctions against Iran for violating nuclear non-proliferation agreements. At the same time, he is wishing to reenter the Iranian nuclear deal, which is a threat to Israel. Biden’s recognition of Turkey’s Ottoman Empire genocide ofArmenians, while applauded, caused Turkey to threaten to work closer with Iran, Russia and China. Turkey is where Gog of Magog (antichrist/beast) arises. Israel has its own set of seemingly prophetic problems. Terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinians are all attacking various areas in Israel. These groups aresupported by Iran. Additionally, Israel has been unable to form a government because of political disruption. COVID 19 has raised a type and shadow of the antichrist/Beast government by forcing COVID passports to actually buy, sell and travel freely in thenation. COVID is a game changer. It demonstrates how quickly a world event brings leaders into alignment and forces people through fear and intimidation into compliance. These events are similar to those that are foretold by the prophets leading up to theappearance of the antichrist/beast. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-4, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. Thatyou be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and thatman of sin be revealed, the son pf perdition; Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Four events: falling away, Beast revealed, sits inthe temple of God, shows himself as God. We are not there yet, but in taking prophetic inventory we are witnessing the advance of the prophecy clock. ------------------------------------------------------- Israel has no choice but to act on its own to stop Iran - JonathanS. Tobin - https://www.jns.org/opinion/israel-has-no-choice-but-to-act-on-its-own-to-stop-iran/ Israeli officials are pleading against more appeasement of Tehran. But revelations about John Kerry�s past betrayal help explain the administration�s refusal to listen. The head of Israel�s Mossad intelligence agency and the government�s national security adviser is in Washington this week on an important mission that has failed even beforeit began. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki made it clear last week that the Israelis are wasting their time. When asked if Israeli pleas about the danger to the region if the UnitedStates rejoins the 2015 nuclear deal would have any impact on President Joe Biden�s plans, Psaki answered �no.� She went on to say that the Israelis are free to keep �challenging� the administration�s goal of returning to a weak pact that gives Tehran a legalpath to a nuclear weapon by the end of the decade, but the best they could hope for is to be �kept abreast� of America�s plans. That contemptuous attitude was of particular significance because the day before the Israeli security officials arrived, news broke about how former Secretary of State JohnKerry had shared intelligence with Iran about Israeli covert operations seeking to stop their nuclear program. According to an audiotape of comments made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif that were obtained by The New York Times, he said, �It wasformer U.S. Foreign Secretary [sic] John Kerry who told me Israel had launched more than 200 attacks on Iranian forces in Syria.� There is a lot to unwrap in that one sentence and not just because the Times buried this revelation at the bottom of its story. Kerry, for whom Psaki served as spokesperson during the nuclear negotiations from 2013 to 2015, currently acts as President Joe Biden�s special presidential envoy of climate.We already knew that in 2018, Kerry consulted with Zarif advising his former negotiating partner not to work with the Trump administration, which withdrew from the nuclear deal as part of a �maximum pressure� campaign to force the Iranians to agree to a newtougher agreement that would eliminate sunset clauses, as well as include bans on Tehran�s role as the world�s leading state sponsor of international terrorism and its illegal missile-building. Kerry told Zarif to simply wait out Trump and then deal with amore pliant Democrat that he hoped would be elected in 2020. That�s exactly what happened, and now the Iranians are reaping the benefits. Biden�s foreign-policy team, composed almost entirely of veterans of the administration of formerPresident Barack Obama, are again resuming their past practice of appeasing the Iranians with concessions in the works in order to entice Tehran to return to a deal with little hope of improving upon it. Kerry�s collusion with Iran is important because it comes in the context of the growing tension with Israel over its efforts to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program. Unlikein the past, when it was clear that the United States and Israel were cooperating in a joint effort to derail the Islamist regime�s nuclear ambitions, the administration went out of its way to disavow any role in Israel�s recent successful attack on Iran�sNatanz nuclear facility. The implication of these off-the-record comments from �senior administration officials� is that the administration regarded Israel�s efforts as seeking to forestall an Americanpush to re-engage with Iran. A news analysis published in The Washington Post filled with quotes from anonymous American and European sources, as well as some on-the-record potshots from former Obama administration figures, said the Jewish state was tryingto play �the spoiler� in order to undermine Biden�s diplomacy. The liberal magazine Slate labeled the attack as an act of a �sneaky saboteur,� as if there was something inherently illegitimate about actions that sought to prevent a terrorist theocracy fromacquiring a nuclear weapon that could fulfill the ayatollah�s genocidal threats against Israel. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) fulminated about the attack, saying he would demand a full security briefing on it while sending a message to the Israelis that he�and othermembers of his party�take it as a matter of faith that diplomacy is the �only� acceptable path for relations with Iran and that Israel�s efforts were bound to fail. As Martin Peretz pointed out in Tablet, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken�s messaging on Iran has sounded a moderate tone, he has essentially outsourced the nuclearissue to Robert Malley, Biden�s special envoy on Iran. Malley was not only one of the chief architects of the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran; he is a veteran appeaser and critic of Israel. In essence, right now the United States is asking Israel to back off on its efforts to stop Iran and to trust Biden�s team to deliver a diplomatic solution to the problem.But given that Malley has demonstrated no interest in strengthening the nuclear pact so as to forestall an Iranian bomb or stop the regime�s terrorism, that�s a leap of faith that no responsible Israeli government can make. More to the point, Zarif�s revelation about Kerry�s sharing of intel about their anti-Iran operations makes it clear to the Israelis that the administration isn�t merelywrongheaded in its approach but may actively be seeking to undermine their country�s security and that of its regional allies. Not only did Psaki refuse to answer a question about Kerry�s astonishing betrayal during her regular press conference on Monday, she didn�t even make an attempt to say somethingthat might reassure the Israelis that the administration regarded this as an issue of concern, let alone something about which an apology should be forthcoming. An investigation into this scandal is imperative. So is Kerry�s resignation from his current post. The implication here is something that advocates for Obama�s signature foreign-policy accomplishment have always been at pains to contradict. Democratic apologists for thedeal have spent the last six years trying to claim that the agreement was the best way to safeguard Israel against an Iranian nuclear weapon. However, critics pointed to the way the deal empowered and enriched a rogue regime, and asked whether the goal wasvery different from the one Obama had discussed. Obama said it was a chance to give Iran the opportunity to �get right with the world� by giving up its nuclear ambitions. Instead, the deal may have been part of an effortto shift American policy in the region from one of an alliance with Israel and the Gulf states to one in which Iran would supplant them as America�s best friend in the region. Few would have believed this claim in 2015. And yet, the impact of the agreementon the region, coupled with Kerry�s actions and the efforts of Obama alumni to return to the deal on Biden�s watch, lend some credibility to this theory. Whatever Obama intended or what Biden may want now, the inescapable conclusion from these events is that the Israelis should be in no doubt about the fact that they arebeing abandoned by the United States with respect to Iran. This leaves Israel with no good options. Nevertheless, the Jewish state has no choice but to proceed as if its future safety lies solely in its own hands. If the Biden administration or the DemocraticParty don�t like that, they can reverse course and start acting as if they take the Iranian nuclear threat seriously. Otherwise, they should pipe down and let the Israelis do what they must to stop an existential threat to their existence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM

ISRAEL WATCH: 5.1.21 - Israel has no choice but to act on its own to stop Iran

Current Jerusalem Intifada Fueled by Biden Policies, Middle East Expert Warns Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - https://www.israel365news.com/189738/current-jerusalem-intifada-fueled-by-biden-policies-middle-east-expert-warns/ The cry “Violence!” Shall no more be heard in your land, Nor “Wrack and ruin!” Within your borders. And you shall name your walls “Victory” And your gates “Renown.” Isaiah60:18 (The Israel BibleTM) Arab riots and attacks against Jews broke out last week as rocket fire from Gaza pounded southern Israel. Much of the violence was centered around Jerusalem but hundreds of Arabs took to the streets in Jaffa as well as other areas around Israel. Arab rioters threw stones andfirebombs at IDF Border Patrol troops. Arab rioters challenged IDF checkpoints around Israel with reports of burning garbage cans as well as stone-throwing. Police’s Jerusalem District chief, Doron Turgeman, told the Kan public broadcaster on Sunday morningthat the number of detainees since the unrest began has reached 157, including 54 arrested for suspected attacks with a “racist motive.” A FOCUS ON JERUSALEM The outbreak of violence coincided with the beginning of the month-long Ramadan fast on April 13 and was focused on Jerusalem. On Thursday, Arab rioters were confrontedby Jewish activists at the Damascus Gate in the old city of Jerusalem with hundreds on each side of the conflict. The Jewish protesters were led by the Lahava group under the slogan that they would “remind the Arabs who Jerusalem belongs to.” “We’ve come here tonight,” Ben-Zion Gopstein, head of Lehava, said, “to clarify to anyone who thinks otherwise: Jerusalem is ours!” The Arabs responded with fireworks aimed at the police and Jewish protesters while shouting “Allahu Akhbar” (Allah is greater). The Jewish protesters responded by shouting “Death to terrorists”, “Death to Arabs”, and “Revenge.” STUN GRENADES AND TEAR GAS Police succeeded in separating the two groups by using crowd control measures like stun grenades and tear gas. 50 people were arrested and over 20 policemen were injured.Confrontations broke out at the Damascus Gate on Saturday night as well. On Thursday, Yahya Jardi, 46 from Beit Shemesh, was driving through Jerusalem when his car was surrounded by a mob of Arabs who attacked his car with rocks. He attemptedto flee on foot but was caught and attacked. His car was later set on fire. Also on Thursday night, an Israeli security guard was driving home through Jerusalem when his car was attacked. His windshield was smashed and he was hit in the head byrocks, He responded by firing shots in the air and fleeing. On Friday night, an Israeli man was viciously attacked as he took his dog for a walk in the Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood in Jerusalem. The victim, Eli Rozen, told Channel 12 News that his attackers began yelling, “Yahud, Yahud” (Jew, Jew) when they saw him. “It’s a third intifada, without a doubt,” he said. “I came out fine considering the number of people who attacked me and what happened. I was a hair’s breadth from death.” AN EXPERT SHEDS SOME LIGHT Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a senior lecturer in Arabic studies at Bar Ilan University, explained that the current riots are quite complex in nature. “So far, this is a wave of events that is fueling itself,” Dr. Kedar told Israel365 News. “There are all kinds of reasons in the background with no one cause or motivation.It started with one young Arab who attacked a Jew and put the video on Tik Tok. It went viral so a bunch of other young Arabs did the same thing. This is the new fad.” “On top of that, Mahmoud Abbas is encouraging this for several reasons. He wants to distract attention from the upcoming elections in the PA because he doesn’t really wantto hold the elections. Of course, humiliating Jews is just icing on the cake for Abbas. He loves it. It shows the other Arabs that despite the talks of negotiations with Israel, he is really against the Jews. This wave of violence is popular. It is the Ramadanatmosphere. At night, they break the fast so the youth have a lot of energy.” “The PA is coming off a period when they were shamed and marginalized by the Abraham Accords. Now, because of Biden, they are once again front and center and have the powerthat comes with that. They are demonstrating this power in the streets. They are about to get a lot of money from Biden and money is needed to fuel terrorism. ” “This violence in Jerusalem led to the rocket fire at Israel. Everyone in the Palestinian world is trying to show that they are a hero by hitting Israel. If Israel respondsharshly against the Arab teens, it may deter them. Or it may make it worse. The Arab teens need to see the benefit of stopping the violence, either from Israel or from the PA.” A RESUMPTION OF TERROR ATTACKS David Rubin, author of Confronting Radicals: What America can learn from Israel, buttressed Kedar’s assertion saying: “It should have been obvious to all that the unconditionalresumption of $290 million in support from Biden administration would lead to a resumption of terror attacks. Every Muslim who murders or wounds a Jew gets a substantial monthly salary from the Palestinian Authority. That policy has continued for two decadesand it is now being encouraged and rewarded by Biden and Harris.” A NEW TREND ON THE TIK TOK APP Several other attacks against Jews were reported over the weekend in Jerusalem including a man who was beaten in the city’s east, several men who were assaulted while ontheir way to pray at the Western Wall, and two who were attacked at the French Hill intersection. Many of the videos have been posted on the internet showing young Arabs targeting Orthodox Jews as a new trend on the Tik Tok app. On Friday, Hamas led a rally in support of the Arab violence in Israel, and that night, 36 rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza. In response to the rocket attack, theIsraeli military struck multiple Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip. The war is constant, whether on higher flames or lower flames“ Kedar added. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Israel has no choice but to act on its own to stop Iran - JonathanS. Tobin - https://www.jns.org/opinion/israel-has-no-choice-but-to-act-on-its-own-to-stop-iran/ Israeli officials are pleading against more appeasement of Tehran. But revelations about John Kerry�s past betrayal help explain the administration�s refusal to listen. The head of Israel�s Mossad intelligence agency and the government�s national security adviser is in Washington this week on an important mission that has failed even beforeit began. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki made it clear last week that the Israelis are wasting their time. When asked if Israeli pleas about the danger to the region if the UnitedStates rejoins the 2015 nuclear deal would have any impact on President Joe Biden�s plans, Psaki answered �no.� She went on to say that the Israelis are free to keep �challenging� the administration�s goal of returning to a weak pact that gives Tehran a legalpath to a nuclear weapon by the end of the decade, but the best they could hope for is to be �kept abreast� of America�s plans. That contemptuous attitude was of particular significance because the day before the Israeli security officials arrived, news broke about how former Secretary of State JohnKerry had shared intelligence with Iran about Israeli covert operations seeking to stop their nuclear program. According to an audiotape of comments made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif that were obtained by The New York Times, he said, �It wasformer U.S. Foreign Secretary [sic] John Kerry who told me Israel had launched more than 200 attacks on Iranian forces in Syria.� There is a lot to unwrap in that one sentence and not just because the Times buried this revelation at the bottom of its story. Kerry, for whom Psaki served as spokesperson during the nuclear negotiations from 2013 to 2015, currently acts as President Joe Biden�s special presidential envoy of climate.We already knew that in 2018, Kerry consulted with Zarif advising his former negotiating partner not to work with the Trump administration, which withdrew from the nuclear deal as part of a �maximum pressure� campaign to force the Iranians to agree to a newtougher agreement that would eliminate sunset clauses, as well as include bans on Tehran�s role as the world�s leading state sponsor of international terrorism and its illegal missile-building. Kerry told Zarif to simply wait out Trump and then deal with amore pliant Democrat that he hoped would be elected in 2020. That�s exactly what happened, and now the Iranians are reaping the benefits. Biden�s foreign-policy team, composed almost entirely of veterans of the administration of formerPresident Barack Obama, are again resuming their past practice of appeasing the Iranians with concessions in the works in order to entice Tehran to return to a deal with little hope of improving upon it. Kerry�s collusion with Iran is important because it comes in the context of the growing tension with Israel over its efforts to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program. Unlikein the past, when it was clear that the United States and Israel were cooperating in a joint effort to derail the Islamist regime�s nuclear ambitions, the administration went out of its way to disavow any role in Israel�s recent successful attack on Iran�sNatanz nuclear facility. The implication of these off-the-record comments from �senior administration officials� is that the administration regarded Israel�s efforts as seeking to forestall an Americanpush to re-engage with Iran. A news analysis published in The Washington Post filled with quotes from anonymous American and European sources, as well as some on-the-record potshots from former Obama administration figures, said the Jewish state was tryingto play �the spoiler� in order to undermine Biden�s diplomacy. The liberal magazine Slate labeled the attack as an act of a �sneaky saboteur,� as if there was something inherently illegitimate about actions that sought to prevent a terrorist theocracy fromacquiring a nuclear weapon that could fulfill the ayatollah�s genocidal threats against Israel. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) fulminated about the attack, saying he would demand a full security briefing on it while sending a message to the Israelis that he�and othermembers of his party�take it as a matter of faith that diplomacy is the �only� acceptable path for relations with Iran and that Israel�s efforts were bound to fail. As Martin Peretz pointed out in Tablet, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken�s messaging on Iran has sounded a moderate tone, he has essentially outsourced the nuclearissue to Robert Malley, Biden�s special envoy on Iran. Malley was not only one of the chief architects of the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran; he is a veteran appeaser and critic of Israel. In essence, right now the United States is asking Israel to back off on its efforts to stop Iran and to trust Biden�s team to deliver a diplomatic solution to the problem.But given that Malley has demonstrated no interest in strengthening the nuclear pact so as to forestall an Iranian bomb or stop the regime�s terrorism, that�s a leap of faith that no responsible Israeli government can make. More to the point, Zarif�s revelation about Kerry�s sharing of intel about their anti-Iran operations makes it clear to the Israelis that the administration isn�t merelywrongheaded in its approach but may actively be seeking to undermine their country�s security and that of its regional allies. Not only did Psaki refuse to answer a question about Kerry�s astonishing betrayal during her regular press conference on Monday, she didn�t even make an attempt to say somethingthat might reassure the Israelis that the administration regarded this as an issue of concern, let alone something about which an apology should be forthcoming. An investigation into this scandal is imperative. So is Kerry�s resignation from his current post. The implication here is something that advocates for Obama�s signature foreign-policy accomplishment have always been at pains to contradict. Democratic apologists for thedeal have spent the last six years trying to claim that the agreement was the best way to safeguard Israel against an Iranian nuclear weapon. However, critics pointed to the way the deal empowered and enriched a rogue regime, and asked whether the goal wasvery different from the one Obama had discussed. Obama said it was a chance to give Iran the opportunity to �get right with the world� by giving up its nuclear ambitions. Instead, the deal may have been part of an effortto shift American policy in the region from one of an alliance with Israel and the Gulf states to one in which Iran would supplant them as America�s best friend in the region. Few would have believed this claim in 2015. And yet, the impact of the agreementon the region, coupled with Kerry�s actions and the efforts of Obama alumni to return to the deal on Biden�s watch, lend some credibility to this theory. Whatever Obama intended or what Biden may want now, the inescapable conclusion from these events is that the Israelis should be in no doubt about the fact that they arebeing abandoned by the United States with respect to Iran. This leaves Israel with no good options. Nevertheless, the Jewish state has no choice but to proceed as if its future safety lies solely in its own hands. If the Biden administration or the DemocraticParty don�t like that, they can reverse course and start acting as if they take the Iranian nuclear threat seriously. Otherwise, they should pipe down and let the Israelis do what they must to stop an existential threat to their existence. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rabbi warns �Super Blood Moon� over America is a sign of War � Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - https://www.israel365news.com/189871/super-blood-moon-to-rise-over-america-an-omen-of-war-with-ishmaelites/ Before the great and terrible day of Hashem comes,* I will set portents in the sky and on earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke; The sun shall turn into darkness Andthe moon into blood. Joel 3:3 (The Israel BibleTM) Next month, a blood moon eclipse will pass over the continental US. According to one rabbinic expert astronomical phenomenon, the eclipse, a super blood moon, comes as awarning to the US concerning re-establishing relations with the Palestinian Authority. BLOOD MOON ECLIPSE On the night of May 26, the first total lunar eclipse of 2021 and the first since January 2019 eclipse will appear in the heavens over southeast Asia, continuing on untilit is visible in South America, Australia, and the western half of North America. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and the full Moon are perfectly aligned with each other so the Moon enters Earth�s umbral shadow in space. The eclipse in Maywill be a�blood moon�, the result of atmospheric conditions that give the moon a reddish tint rather than black when it moves into the shadow. The red color comes from some of the sunlight passing through Earth�s atmosphere where it gets bent and colors likeblue or green are filtered out, leaving behind longer wavelengths like the color red. This eclipse will take place when the moon will be the biggest and brightest of the entire year, what is referred to as a supermoon, which occurs when the moon is at itsperigee, the point in its month-long elliptical orbit brings it closest to Earth. At that time, the moon appears up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than at its apogee, its furthest point from Earth. TALMUD: LUNAR ECLIPSE IS A BAD OMEN In his book Davar B�ito, a guide to the calendar based on esoteric Jewish sources, Rabbi Mordechai Genuth discussed the meaning of eclipses in Jewish tradition. Rabbi Genuthexplained that under normal circumstances, lunar eclipses are considered a bad omen for Israel. This is based in a discussion of eclipses from the Talmud (Sukkot 29a) that specifically stated that the nation of Israel is spiritually represented by the moon. If duringthe course of the lunar eclipse the moon appears red, as the upcoming eclipse will be, the Talmud states that this is an omen that great wars will come to the world. �In the time of the Talmud, only Israel set the calendar according to the moon,� Rabbi Genuth said. �Setting the calendar according to the sun was the practice of the idolaters,like Rome which named the solar months and days after pagan gods. Today, the Muslims set their calendar according to the moon, even more than the Jews, in a manner that leads their calendar to be imbalanced. So a lunar eclipse is closely connected to the Muslimsand, in this case, is a warning for the Arabs.� He noted that the lunar eclipse will take place one week after the Festival of Weeks and two weeks after the end of the month-long Muslim fast of Ramadan. �The eclipse will pass over the United States,� Rabbi Genuth said. �The new President is connecting his fate with that of the Arabs, choosing them over Israel. He is choosingwar, the wars that originate in Ishmael, the wars that are presaged by the upcoming blood moon.� Rabbi Genuth made one disclaimer; at the end of the section of the Talmud describing the omens contained within eclipses, the Talmud states: �When Israel does the will ofthe place (God), they have nothing to fear from all of this,� citing the Prophet Jeremiah as a source. Thus said Hashem: Do not learn to go the way of the nations, And do not be dismayed by portents in the sky; Let the nations be dismayed by them! Jeremiah 10:2 �This is a warning to the Israeli government,� Rabbi Genuth said. �They need to be strong when it comes to Jerusalem.� He explained that the name of Jerusalem is rooted in the Hebrew word �Shalem� (complete) which is a reference to the sun which, unlike the moon, does not go through phases. �THE JEWS HAVE TO BE STRONG REGARDING JERUSALEM,� RABBI GENUTH SAID. The rabbi also noted a prophecy in the Book of Joel states that the coming of the Messiah will be preceded by a blood moon. Before the great and terrible day of Hashem comes, I will set portents in the sky and on earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke; The sun shall turn into darkness Andthe moon into blood. But everyone who invokes the name of Hashem shall escape; for there shall be a remnant on Mount Tzion and in Yerushalayim, as Hashem promised. Anyone who invokes Hashem will be among the survivors. Joel 3:3-5 �We are indeed close to the end of days so these astronomical signs are taking on increased importance,� Rabbi Genuth said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM