Numbers That Are Getting My Attention

Numbers That Are Getting My Attention - By Daymond Duck -

http://www.raptureready.com/2017/05/21/numbers-that-are-getting-my-attention/

 

Last week, my article was titled, "Words That Are Getting My Attention." This week, I thought that I would write about numbers that are getting my attention.

 

I have never had a desire to study the significance of Bible numbers, but I have long believed that everything in the Bible is significant.

 

I have always been leery of going too far in the study of numbers, but I have recently seen some amazing things that other prophecy teachers (Bob Mitchell, Dan Goodwin, etc.) have pointed out.

 

I don't agree with everything they say, but I will try to take some of the amazing things these prophecy teachers say that seems right to me and pass it on in my own words.

 

Notice these six (the number of man) historical facts:

 

1897-A Zionist conference was held to find a homeland for the Jews.

1917-War: England capture Palestine (Israel, Jerusalem and more).

1947-A UN conference was held to find a homeland for the Jews.

1967-War: Israel captured West Bank (including East Jerusalem).

1997-An Arab conference was held to take the homeland of the Jews.

2017-War: threats from Iran, Hezbollah, ISIS, some Arabs, etc.

 

Notice that these six historical facts run 20 + 30 + 20 + 30 + 20:

 

1897 + 20 = 1917

1917 + 30 = 1947

1947 + 20 = 1967

1967 + 30 = 1997

1997 + 20 = 2017

 

Notice that the conferences run in 50-year cycles:

 

1897-1st conference; find a homeland for the Jews.

1947-2nd conference; establish a homeland for the Jews (1897 + 50 = 1947).

1997-3rd conference; take the homeland from the Jews (1947 + 50 = 1997).

Notice that these 50-year cycles were held by three different groups.

1897-The 1st conference was a Jewish conference.

1947-The 2nd conference was a Gentile (UN) conference (1897 + 50 = 1947).

1997-The 3rd conference was an Arab conference (1947 + 50 = 1997).

Notice that three of these 50-year cycles are about war.

1897-War: England captured Palestine (Israel, Jerusalem and more).

1967-War: Israel captured West Bank (East Jerusalem and more).

2017-War: Remains to be seen, but very possible.

Notice that three of these 50-year cycles involve Jerusalem (the end of the age cup of trembling and burdensome stone for the whole world; Joel 3:2).

1917-War: Gentiles took Jerusalem.

1967-War: Jews took Jerusalem.

2017-War: Remains to be seen, but Arabs and or Muslims (the Iranians are not Arabs) may try to take Jerusalem.

 

But let's go a little deeper and I honestly don't know what to make of this.

 

We are looking at six events between 1897 and 2017, a period of 120 years. In the days of Noah (a sign of the Second Coming) God said, "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years" (Gen. 6:3).

 

Based on God's six days of creation and one day of rest (a total of seven days) plus the Scriptures that teach that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years (Psalm 90:4; II Pet. 3:8; Heb. 4:4) some church fathers (Barnabas, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and Lactantius), scholars (Dr. J. R. Church) and prophecy writers (Dr. Noah Hutchings and others), have taught that mankind will go through six God days of 1,000 years each (a total of 6,000 years) plus a Millennium of 1,000 years rest (now a total of 7,000 years).

 

6,000 years is 120 of 50-years each or 6,000 years (120 X 50 = 6,000).

 

Let's go one final time and quit.

 

It is common knowledge among most students of the Bible that Jesus told His disciples "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (Matt. 16:28).

 

Then, six days later, Jesus took Peter (the same Peter that said six days is with the Lord as a thousand years) plus James, and John up on the Mount of Transfiguration and revealed His Second Coming to them (Matt. 17:1-9).

 

The question is "Why did Jesus wait six days instead of three or five or ten days or whatever?" Why six days?

 

I recently heard Dan Goodwin say those six days represent 6,000 years. I knew that six days of God's time are like 6,000 years of Man's time, but I don't think I have ever heard that one day of man's time ((Peter, James and John's time) can be like 1,000 years to God. It just didn't seem right to me.

 

Then, I read what Moses said, "A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday" (Psalm 90:4). To God, 1,000 years seems like yesterday or one day.

 

I went back to II Pet. 3:8: "But, beloved, don't be ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

 

I went to my King James Bible Commentary and read that "God does not count time in the same way that we do. To Him a thousand years may count as one day" (II Pet. 3:8).

 

This is the point: God is an eternal being. Time does not exist for Him. There is no difference between 1,000 years and one day to God and no difference between one day and 1,000 years to God.

 

So, each person should decide for his or her own self if Jesus waiting six days to reveal His Second Coming to Peter, James and John means His Second Coming will be after 6,000 years of human history.

 

In summary, I don't know what to think of some of this, but in light of the talk of moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, the talk of a peace treaty this 2017, it being 50 years since 1967, it being 70 years since 1947, the upcoming total eclipse of the sun, the Revelation 12 sign on Rosh Hashanah, etc. These amazing numbers are getting my attention.

 

Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.

Daymond & Rachel Duck

What Time Is It on God's Calendar? Watch Jerusalem

What Time Is It on God's Calendar? Watch Jerusalem - By Barry Elkin -  

http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=1261

 

In the twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus is found God's giving of the Jubilee to the nation of Israel.

 

"And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family."

 

Every seventh year was a Sabbath year and after seven Sabbath years numbering forty-nine years in all, they were to proclaim the following year, the fiftieth year a jubilee.

 

One of the primary functions of the jubilee was to return every possession unto its original owner. The institution of the Jubilee Year became the means of fixing the price of real property and moreover, it excluded the possibility of selling any piece of land permanently.

 

In verse 23 God furnishes the motive:

 

"The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me."

 

And so the primary object of the jubilee was of course, the reversion of all hereditary property to the family which originally possessed it, and the reestablishment of the original arrangement regarding the division of the land.

 

Now, lest you think that the jubilee year is no longer of importance to God if not the nation of Israel, let me give you a fairly recent illustration.

 

In the New Testament in prophesying about the coming destruction of the Great Temple and the dispersion of the people Jesus said in Luke 21:24,

 

"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled".

 

In accordance with this prophecy Jerusalem has been oppressed by one heathen power after another all down thru the centuries since Titus destroyed the Temple, took hundreds of thousands as slaves in 70 A.D.

 

Then in 131 A.D. after the Bar Kochba revolution Hadrian drove the Jews from Palestine in what is called the diaspora until its final Islamic ruler, The Ottoman Empire of the Turks.

 

In 1914 WW I began and God caused the Turks to make a deadly error in judgment having them side with Germany in WW I.  

 

Few people are aware of the divine planning in the deliverance of Jerusalem and that it was so explicitly foretold by Isaiah about 2500 years earlier.

 

In Isaiah 31:5 he wrote, (Now read carefully the words that the Lord our God spoke thru the prophet).

 

"As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it".

 

In December of 1917 the British Commander General Allenby and his army approached the city of Jerusalem held and strongly fortified by the Ottoman Turks.

 

A long and bloody battle was anticipated to wrest the city from the Turks with much damage being done to the city by the British shelling.

 

In order to gain information about the Turkish defenses he had two British airplanes fly in low at high speed to and fro, back and forth over the city.

 

This scared the Turks, many of whom had never seen an airplane and to their untrained ears the name of Allenby, the British commander took on the sound of "allah's bey" meaning god's will and so they fled their positions, surrendered the city to Allenby without firing a single shot nor was a single structure damaged.

 

Now there were a number of British air squadrons stationed in the Middle East at the time but a particular one was chosen to fly that mission.

 

In detailed fulfillment of Isaiah, the Number 14 bomber squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (Now the R.A.F.) took Jerusalem just as God had said,

 

"As birds flying they defended it, defending it they delivered it and passing over it, they preserved it"

 

That's a pretty good fulfillment of bible prophecy by itself but the part of this event that will really give you shivers just thinking about it is to be found in the motto of the bomber squadron chosen for the task.

 

A motto that was chosen two years earlier in 1915 when the squadrons were first formed. Inscribed on the shoulder patch and painted onto the side of each bi-plane were the words,

 

"I spread my wings and keep my promise."

 

When I first read this, though I do not doubt Our God in any way, it just seemed so incredible that I had to find out on my own whether this was actually true or the fanciful writing of someone wanting to put together a nice story for we believers to enjoy much later.

 

After all, you have to admit that that scripture coming together so many years later with that particular squadron with that particular motto on the planes that just happened to be chosen for that mission IS pretty incredible.

 

So with the now ease of using the computer as a tool of research I was after many attempts able to track down records of the 14th bomber squadron as part of the Royal Flying corps.

 

It no longer exists as such but is now a part of the RAF since the end of World War I but I was able to find a page of information on it including its insignia and its motto.

 

I wasn't that surprised to find that the insignia and motto bore out the original story but being able to locate it after all these years was pretty amazing but there was something more amazing that I discovered after examining it closely.

 

It was the source of the motto that was just as amazing as the entire story considering who it was that held the city when it was taken by the British.

 

As we all know now it was the Turks of the Ottoman Empire who were obviously Islamic and had as their holy book the Quran.

 

Here is what the squadron insignia looks like and what it says right in the center of the page. Look closely at the writing under the words RAF Lossiemouth:

 

Can you even believe that the motto is from the Arabic Quran? How ironic is that? WOW! Do we have an awesome God or what?

 

So the city was delivered from the Turks and fell back into the hands of Christian nations in 1917 but it was governed by the British and half of it was still held and controlled by the Arabs.

 

So what has that to do with the Jubilee years?

 

Well, that event occurred in 1917 and in the following year the Balfour Declaration was issued which declared its intent to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

 

As was previously shown, Israel became a nation when it had matured thirty years later in 1948 but she still had not acquired complete governance and control of Jerusalem.  It was still a divided city.

 

Then, exactly FIFTY years later, after it's return from the Turks of the Ottoman Empire, in 1967 in a war not planned by Israel but most definitely by Our God, the Jews captured the Arab portion of Jerusalem and annexed it to keep and so in the Jubilee year of Jerusalem, the property of Israel reverted back to its original owner.

 

This has really gotten me wondering what may be in the works for this next jubilee of Jerusalem

 

Let's see; FIFTY added to 1967 is, ah.....2017. 

 

Where Is God?

Where Is God?by John Piper

This [article was written on the] weekend of the first anniversary of 9/11 that has occurred on the Lord's day, Sunday. Therefore it seemed good to us to step back and pose the question again about the meaning of the supremacy of Christ in an age of terror.
The Supremacy of God in All Things--No Exceptions
One of the truths of the Bible that we embrace with trembling joy is the truth of God's supremacy in all things. The mission of our church is that we exist to spread a passion of the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. When we say that, we do not mean: "except in calamities," "except in war," "except when Al Qaeda blows up a building or a train," "except when cancer takes a mom or a child is born with profound disabilities." There are no "except" clauses in our mission statement.
We did not formulate our mission in a rosy world--and then get surprised and embarrassed by the reality of suffering. We did not have our head in the sand. We formulated our mission in the real world of pain and suffering and evil and death. We have seen even among our own people, some very peaceful, but also some very terrible deaths. We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things--all things--for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ--all the time. A passion for God's supremacy--Christ's supremacy (for he is God incarnate)--in all things, all the time.
Sorrowful, Yet Always Rejoicing
None of us who has lived a few decades--for me that means almost six--has embraced this mission without trembling. And none of us has lived this mission for long without tears. We have said it dozens of times here at Bethlehem, and we will say it till we die, that the joy we pursue and the joy we embrace in Jesus Christ is always--always in this world--interwoven with sorrow. There is no unadulterated joy in this world for people who care about others. The Bible describes Christ's servants like this: "[We are] sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." (2 Corinthians 6:10).
"Sorrowful yet always rejoicing." How can that be? It can be because Christ is supreme over all things forever, but suffering and death remain for a while. Life is not simple. There is pleasure, and there is pain. There is sweetness, and there is bitter suffering. There is joy, and there is misery. There is life and health, and there is disease and death. And therefore emotions are not simple. For those who love others, and not just their own comforts, this complexity means that we will rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). And there is always someone we know who is weeping, and someone we know who is rejoicing. And therefore we will learn the secret of "sorrowful yet always rejoicing"--and joyful yet always sorrowing. Those amazing words that describe the Christian soul--"sorrowful yet always rejoicing"--mean that suffering remains for a while in this world, but Christ is supreme now and forever.
9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Constant Suffering in This World
The first plane that hit the World Trade Towers, Flight 11, immediately killed 92 people on board that flight. Flight 175 that hit the second tower a few minutes later killed 65 people on board. In the Towers themselves it appears now that 2,595 people perished when the Towers fell, including those who worked there or visited there, and those who were entering to save them.
Flight 77 carried 64 people when it hit the Pentagon within an hour after the first attack. Inside the Pentagon 125 people died in addition to these 64. Flight 93 with 45 people aboard turned around over Pennsylvania and was headed . . . where? The White House? The Congress? Todd Beamer and others wrestled control from the hijackers, it seems, and the plane crashed with no survivors near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All 45 people died. The total fatalities in these terrorist events was about 2,986.
We thought that would be the calamity for this message to focus on. But God had other plans. Who can pose the question of God's sovereignty and Christ's supremacy today and leave Hurricane Katrina out of account. What happened in the last week in New Orleans and surrounding areas is different than almost anything this country has ever seen. The September 8, 1900 Galveston Hurricane may have killed more--up to 12,000, we don't know--but it did not displace hundreds of thousands and leave a major city virtually empty and paralyzed with several surrounding smaller towns even more devastated. Who can speak of the supremacy of Christ in an age of terror without considering the terror of 140-mile-an-hour winds and broken levees and floodwaters covering 80% of a great city and who knows how many people dead in their attics?
And lest we think naively in response to these calamities, as though the cost of lives was something unusual, let's remind ourselves of the obvious and the almost overwhelming fact that over 50,000,000 people die every year in this world. Over 6,000 ever hour. Over 100 every minute. And most of them do not die in ripe old age by sleeping peacefully away into eternity. Most die young. Most die after long struggles with pain. And millions die because of the evil of man against man.
Sudden calamities shock us only to make more plain what is happening every hour of every day of your entire life. Thousands perish in pain and misery every day. Probably seven or eight thousand people will have died during this worship service. Some of them are screaming out in pain just now as I am speaking and as you sit there in relative comfort. If there is to be any Christian joy in this world, along with love, it will be sorrowful joy, broken-hearted joy. What person in this room, who has lived long enough, does not know that the sweetest joys, the deepest joys, are marked with tears, not laughter?
Evil and Pain as a Pointer to the Need and Evidence for God
So even in our own experience--in our own souls--believers or unbelievers, there is a kind of witness that the world of evil and pain and misery and death is not a meaningless place. It is not a place without a good and purposeful God. Some people--not all--have found in the greatest evil--the time of greatest sorrow--the greatest need for God and the greatest evidence of God.
It happens like this. A great evil happens--say the holocaust with 6,000,000 murders. Or the Stalinist Soviet gulag with many more than that sent to their deaths. In the midst of these horrors, the human soul, that had been blithely pursuing its worldly pleasures with scarcely a thought about God and with no serious belief in any absolutes like evil and good, or right and wrong--happily living in the dream-world of relativism--suddenly is confronted with an evil so horrible and so great as to make the soul scream out with ultimate moral indignation: No! This is wrong! This is evil!
And for the first time in their life they hear themselves speaking with absolute conviction. They have a conviction of absolute reality. They know now beyond the shadow of a doubt that such a thing as evil exists. They admit that all their life up till then was a game. And now they are confronted with the stark question: If there is such a thing as absolute evil--if there is a moral reality that is above and different from the mere physical processes of evolutionary energy plus time plus matter--then where does it come from, and what is it based on?
And many people discover in this moment of greatest evil that there is only one satisfactory answer: There is a God above the universe who sets the standards of good and evil and writes them on the human heart. They are not purposeless chemical reactions in our brains. They have reality outside of us, above us, in God. Paradoxically, therefore, the times of greatest human evil have often proved for many to be times when God is most needed and most self-evidently real. Without him evil and good are simply different electro-chemical impulses in the brain of mammal primates called homo sapiens. We know--you know--that is not true.
Why Does Such a World Exist?
So we ask: Why, Lord? Why is the world you made like this? If you are God--if you are the Christ the Son of the living God--why is this world so full of terror and trouble?
Here is what I believe the Bible teaches in answer to this question. I will give two answers that are not the reason such a world exists, and then four answers that are the reasons such world exists. I deal with each very briefly and point you to the Scriptures where you can search God's word for yourself.
1. The reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is not because God is not in total control.
The Bible is overwhelmingly clear that God governs everything in the universe from the smallest bird to the largest storm. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father" (Matthew 10:29). "Even winds and sea obey him" (Matthew 8:27). "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" (Proverbs 16:33). "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will" (Proverbs 21:1). "Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?" (Lamentations 3:37). "Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?" (Amos 3:6). "He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him" (Mark 1:27). "I am God, and there is none like me . . . saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose'" (Isaiah 46:9-10).
There is no person or being in the universe that can thwart the sovereign will of God. Satan is his most powerful enemy and does much evil in the world, but he must first get God's permission, and none of his actions is outside God's governance. He never breaks free from his leash (Luke 22:31; Job 2:6-7; 42:11).
2. The reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is not because God is evil or unjust.
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). "Good and upright is the Lord" (Psalm 25:8) The angels cry before God day and night, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" (Isaiah 6:3). And when he does things that seem evil to us, the Bible teaches us to speak to man like this: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20). God is not evil, even when he wills that evil come to pass. There are good and holy and just purposes in all he does. For those who love him he "works all things together for good" (Romans 8:28). Now and forever.
Now the four positive reasons why this world exists.
1.The reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is because God planned the history of redemption and then permitted sin to enter the world through our first parents, Adam and Eve.
In 2 Timothy 1:9 the apostle Paul said, "[God] saved us and called us toa holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began." In other words, before there was any world or any sin in the world, God planned saving grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That means that God knew Adam would sin. He was already planning how he would save us.
Therefore Adam's sin was part of God's plan so that God could reveal his mercy and grace and justice and wrath and patience and wisdom in ways that could have never been revealed, if there were no sin and no Savior and no history of salvation. God's aim for this fallen world is that he be known more fully, because knowing God most fully is what it means for us to be most fully loved. If you turn to Christ, you will discover in God more wonders in this fallen world than could be imagined in any other world.
2.The reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is because God subjected the natural world to futility. That is, God put the natural world under a curse so that the physical horrors we see around us in diseases and calamities would become a vivid picture of how horrible sin is. In other words, natural evil is a signpost pointing to the horrors of moral evil.
Before I say another word, hear this word of clarification: some of the sweetest, most humble, godly, Christ-exalting, heaven-bound people carry some of those signs. Listen to Romans 8:18-21:
The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
In other words, God subjected the creation to futility and bondage to decay and misery and death. He disordered the natural world because of the disorder of the moral and spiritual world--that is because of sin. In our present condition blinded by sin and dishonoring God every day, we cannot see how repugnant sin is. Hardly anyone in the world feels the horror that our sin is. Physical pain we feel! And so it becomes God's trumpet blast to tell us that something is dreadfully wrong in the world. Diseases and deformities are God's portraits of what sin is like in the spiritual realm. That is true even though some of the most godly people bear those deformities. Calamities are God's previews of what sin deserves and will one day receive in judgment a thousand times worse. They are warnings. And that is true even when they sweep away Christ-followers and Christ-rejectors.
Oh, that we could all see and feel how repugnant, how offensive, how abominable it is to blackball our Maker, to ignore him and distrust him and demean him and give him less attention in our hearts than we do the carpet on our living room floor. We must see this, or we will not turn to Christ for salvation from sin. Therefore, God mercifully shouts to us in our sicknesses and pain and calamities: Wake up! Sin is like this! Sin leads to things like this. (See Revelation 9:20; 16:9, 11.) The natural world is shot through with horrors to wake us from the dreamworld of thinking sin is no big deal. It is a horrifically big deal.
3. The reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is so that followers of Christ can experience and display that no pleasure and no treasure compares to knowing Christ. That is, the loss of every good thing in this world is meant to reveal that Christ himself more than compensates for all losses.
We see it in the New Testament and the Old Testament. The apostle Paul says, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8). The superior worth of Christ is magnified because in all Paul's losses, he experiences Christ as all-satisfying.
The prophet Habakkuk said it with amazing and painful beauty:
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Famines, pestilence, persecution--these happen so that the world might see in the followers of Jesus and discover for themselves that God made us for himself and that he is our "exceeding joy" (Psalm 43:4) and at his right hand are pleasures for every more (Psalm 16:11). The losses of life are meant to wean us off the poisonous pleasures of the world and lure us to Christ our everlasting joy.
4. Finally, the reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is to make a place for Jesus Christ the Son of God to suffer and die for our sins. The reason there is terror is so that Christ would be terrorized. The reason there is trouble is so that Christ could be troubled. The reason there is pain is so that Christ could feel pain. This is the world God prepared for the suffering and death of his Son. This is the world where God made the best display of his love in the suffering of his Son.
Romans 5:8, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." All his suffering was the plan of God to reveal redeeming love to us. The sovereignty of God, the evil of the world, and the love of God meet at the cross of Christ. Listen to this amazing statement from Acts 4:27-28 about God's plan for the suffering of his Son--for you! "Truly in this city [Jerusalem] there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." All the scheming, all the flogging, all the spitting, all the beating with rods, all the mockery, all the abandonment by his friends, all the thorns in his head, all the nails in his hands and feet, the sword in his side, weight of the sins of the world--all of it according to God's plan. For you to see God's love more graphically.
God's deepest answer to terrorism and calamity is the suffering and death of his Son. He entered into our fallen world of sin and misery and death. He bore in himself the cause of it all--sin. And he bought by his death the cure for it all--forgiveness and everlasting joy in the age to come.
On his behalf I invite--I urge--you to receive him as your Savior and Lord and the supreme Treasure of your life.

Sedition, resistance, revolution

Sedition, resistance, revolution - Bill Wilson - www.dailyot.com

In the wake of the Manchester, UK terrorist bombing, the BBC reports that America's closest ally in the war on terror, Britain, has stopped sharing intelligence related to the terrorist act with the US. The reason: Unnamed US "government sources" leaked critical information to American journalists long before it was to be public. Recently, President Donald Trump's intel officers, through "unnamed sources" leaked a false narrative about information sharing in a White House meeting with the Russian ambassador. It is widely reported that the "Fifth Estate" is at war with the Trump White House and orts from the previous Administration are undermining Trump's presidency, in what has been labeled a "soft coup."

Connecting the dots of these stories, one can see a pattern of operatives in government and media working together to render Trump's Administration ineffective. While Congress may not want to recognize that "progressives" (the modern, more acceptable, name for communists or Marxists) are actually waging a campaign of sedition to overthrow the government, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the unfathomable is reality. Another indicator, of course, is the media. A study by Harvard's Shorenstein Center indicated that coverage of the Trump Administration was over 80% negative during the first 100 days, led by CNN and NBC with 93% negative; CBS 91% negative; Fox 52% negative.

Looking behind the curtain in the news media, you will find actual revolutionaries who are committed to the so-called "resistance" that are working with seditious government actors to undermine the US. Case in point is how Breitbart revealed that Associated Press had hired a "reporter" who claimed she was part of the resistance on her Facebook page. This reporter, Melanie Plenda, infiltrated a closed fundraising event where Trump campaign manager and White House aide Kellyanne Conway was the headliner. Plenda reported the crowd size as a fraction of what it was and invented a false narrative that Conway was received coldly by the Republicans. AP refused to issue a correction for several days.

Exposed, AP "clarified" the story, fired Plenda, but, according to Breitbart, still refuses to "transparently answer questions about the serious breach in ethics and accuracy." You see, AP is a providing source of news to all the other news outlets, so once a story is filed by AP, all the other news organizations print or broadcast it. A lot of power. A small example here of fake news. The larger issue is the sedition as a result of this "resistance" conspiring to revolution. It is akin to what God showed Ezekiel inside the temple walls in Ezekiel 8:9, "And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do there." There are many abominations occurring right now against God and country and the common thread is what they call the "resistance." It is a vile force threatening not only our nation, but also our religious freedom.

Jesus GAVE His Life For Us

Jesus GAVE His Life For Us - By Grant Phillips - http://www.raptureready.com/2017/05/25/jesus-gave-his-life-for-us/  

I think it is very important that mankind understands this one fact; no one overpowered Jesus and killed Him, not the Romans and not the Jewish nation.

Some religious people, and others who are religious about nothing, have been stating that "Jesus was a nice man. He taught many good truths. He is a great example to follow. Too bad 'they' murdered Him."

For hundreds of years the Jewish people have been ostracized, hated, tormented, tortured, murdered, run out of their homes, enslaved, and most anything else demented minds can come up with because they "murdered" Jesus, a good man.

For some reason, the Gentiles by Roman proxy have never taken any credit for the same thing the Jews are hated for, even though they, the Romans, were the ones who actually carried out the crucifixion.

Prior to the Church there were only two classifications of people on earth; Jews and Gentiles. Since the Church came into existence at Pentecost, there are now three classifications of people on earth; Jews, Gentiles and Christians. Yet still, only the Jews are found guilty by the world court for "murdering" Jesus. Now that's really "the pot calling the kettle black."

However, I return to the opening sentence, "no one overpowered Jesus and killed Him," and this is important to know. Jesus made this very clear.

"As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." (John 10:15, 17-18)

Jesus said three times that He alone laid down His life. He said that no one took His life. He went on to say that He has the power to lay it down and twice He said He has the power to raise it up.

Now is there any possible way to be clearer than that? Of course not. No one overpowered Jesus. No one took His life. He freely gave His life for us. Maybe we should ponder on that for a moment and really let it sink in. No one but Jesus has the power and authority to be in absolute control of their life. We haven't the power or authority of preventing our death or resurrecting our own person, but Jesus does. To me this emphasizes the fact that no one took His life. He gave His life for our sake, and was raised on the third day, just as He prophesied.

When reading the Gospels, we see over and over that He knew where He was headed. His gaze was fixed on a Roman cross. There were times the mobs tried to take Him, but they couldn't do so because it wasn't His time. It is most obvious that no one was able to apprehend Him if He didn't allow it. When His time did come, He allowed them to take Him.

Isaiah tells us that when His time had come He didn't even open His mouth to object as He stood before His accusers.

"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:7)

The Apostle Paul tells us that Christ died for the ungodly. He says someone just might die for a good person, but it's rare anyone would die a for righteous person. However, Jesus Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Read his words yourself.

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11 NIV)

Think about this now. It's rare anyone would die for a good person, but Jesus died for us even though we were His enemies. He reconciled those to God who look upon Him and believe in Him. All of this is because He freely chose to. No one made Him. He chose to die for us in order that we would have a path, the only path by the way, to God.

Jesus Himself said,

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

All who come to Him in belief are His friends. He is our God and He is our friend, not just in time of need, but all the time.

No one could love us more than Jesus Christ, not even our own family. We can know that love by asking Him to come into our lives. He will never turn anyone away.

"All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." (John 6:37 NIV)

You may ask, "How do I know I'm one the Father gives to Him?" The answer is obvious, if you come to Him, the Father has given you to Him, and He will not turn you away.

Jesus gave His life for all sinners, and that certainly includes all of us.

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

If you really desire to know how Jesus feels about you, just remember that He GAVE His life for you and me. No one took it.

Grant Phillips

TRUMP WATCH: 5.27.17 - Renowned Rabbis Decode Trump's "Auspicious" Visit on Day of Sixes

Renowned Rabbis Decode Trump's "Auspicious" Visit on Day of Sixes - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz -

https://www.breakingisraelnews.com

 

"Moreover concerning the stranger that is not of Thy people Yisrael, when he shall come out of a far country for Thy name's sake...when he shall come and pray toward this house." I Kings 8:41-42 (The Israel Bible™)

 

Though parts of President Trump's itinerary while in Israel are still undecided, and the political agenda, especially concerning the moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem, are still in flux, for two Israeli rabbis everything about the major political event is clear and revealed.

 

President Trump landed in Israel on Monday morning, which is coincidentally the 26th day of the Hebrew month of Iyyar, the 50th anniversary of the first day of the Six-Day War. Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson, an expert in Bible Codes, explained how this repetition of sixes is significant.

 

"This day is too auspicious to be a coincidence," Rabbi Glazerson said in a video about the president's visit. "It is a day with great potential. If it is good, it can be amazing, but if it is not good, it can be very bad indeed."

 

This assessment very much reflects the all-or-nothing nature of the six-day war of survival Israel fought in 1967. Beginning with indefensible borders, nine miles wide at the narrowest, the Israeli Air Force sent out all but twelve of its combat aircraft in an early morning raid. By noon, the IAF had succeeded in effectively destroying the Jordanian, Syrian, and Egyptian air forces.

 

Rabbi Glazerson noted that Jews are currently counting the 49 days, or seven weeks, after Passover which culminate in the holiday of Shavuot (Weeks, or Pentecost). The day of President Trump's arrival will mark the sixth day of the sixth week, which in Kabbalistic terms represents foundation of the foundation, personified by Biblical character of Joseph.

 

"Just as a foundation establishes what will follow, for good or bad, the real nature of Trump's visit will not become clear for some time," Rabbi Glazerson said. "This could be the setting of the foundation for the Temple, but what will actually come out of it depends on Israel's attachment to Torah and mitzvoth (commandments). In Judaism, six is the number of holiness and purity, and this is the day that the American president chose to arrive in Jerusalem."

 

Rabbi Glazerson is an expert in Torah Codes, a method using a special computer program to search for series of letters in the Bible which reveals hidden messages in the Bible. He searched for the Hebrew date, the 26th of Iyyar 5777. The search found an occurrence in the Book of Deuteronomy, which Rabbi Glazerson explained represents the current millennium.

 

Interconnected with the letters spelling out the date was the word 'Zion', which was adjacent to the Hebrew word, 'Mikdash' (Temple). These configurations surrounded the verse that commanded Israel to take the land of Israel.

 

Go up and possess the land which I have given you. Deuteronomy 9:23

 

Another rabbi who believes that President Trump's massively public visit to Israel has a hidden nature is Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi, a prominent Israeli mystic with a significant following.

 

"Donald Trump takes care of what is important to him personally. He does one thing publicly but privately, he works in a completely different manner," Rabbi Ben Artzi said in his regular lesson last week. "He talks quite a bit, but when it comes to his deeds, he does the right thing. Trump knows, for example, that Abu Mazen (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) is crooked, and Trump will act as if he is going along with him, but he will only go along for a little bit.

 

"Trump intends to fix things in the world that were made crooked, and this is how he will do it. If he wasn't smart like this, he would not have become president. It is clear that is why he came to Israel: He respects the Jews."

 

The real nature of President Trump's visit to Israel has been a mystery waiting to be solved. The most controversial aspect of his visit concerns his campaign promise to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It was originally speculated that since he will arrive on the day before Jerusalem Day, the day Israel celebrates the unification of the city in the Six-Day War, he would take the opportunity to dramatically announce his decision. It was revealed to the press last week that this would not be the case.

 

Trump in Israel for prophetic drive toward peace - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

 

Just about every president that has held the office since before Jimmy Carter thought they could bring peace to the Middle East. President Donald Trump is no different. After flying from Saudi Arabia to Tel Aviv, Trump said that he has found new reasons for hope. He said, "We have before us a rare opportunity to bring security and stability and peace to this region and its people, defeating terrorism and creating a future of harmony, prosperity and peace, but we can only get there working together. There is no other way." So the peace process, which has pushed the "restart" button by every modern president begins anew. The may be hope in Trump making a deal, but it's not the hope in what the politicians think.

 

During my travels in Israel, I noticed something upon which most Israelis agree: they want peace. Trouble is, there can be no peace when the surrounding enemies won't take the first step and recognize Israel's right to exist in the first place. It has to start there-that Jews have the right to self-determination in their own land. The political Arabs don't recognize this right. When President George W Bush essentially forced former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to evacuate Gaza to the so-called "Palestinians," there was no peace. Gaza turned into a terrorist state, a staging ground for missiles and acts of violence, proving to the world that a two-state solution is only division of land to create more hostility toward Israel.

 

Trump, like any other US president who tries to lift the peace of Jerusalem as a burdensome stone, will soon find that there is a reason that peace has not been achieved despite the earnest efforts of many a sincere leader-prophecy. Those who are students of the Bible in its prophetic context know that while we are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, true peace will not be attained until the return of the Messiah, the total defeat of Israel's enemies, including the antichrist and his coalition of the very nations who broker terrorism against Israel in this modern day. They include Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and parts of Saudi Arabia where Trump just completed a $110 billion arms deal. No peace in that.

 

As the Lord says in Ezekiel 39:27-29 of Israel and her people, "When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God." Prophetically and scripturally speaking, the only one that is going to bring peace to the land of Israel is the Prince of Peace, not a mere mortal. Until then its window dressing and positioning that may bring the prophecy clock forward, but it won't be the real deal.

 

 

Trump vows Israel won't be destroyed on his watch - Tovah Lazaroff - http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Trump-vows-Israel-wont-be-destroyed-on-his-watch-493721

 

"I am pretty confident that gradually the world will recognize Jerusalem as its capital."

 

US President Donald Trump's personal pledge to protect Israel from its enemies, particularly Iran, won him the hearts of his audience during his keynote speech at the Israel Museum on Tuesday afternoon.

 

"Israelis have experienced firsthand the hatred and terror of radical violence," Trump said.

 

"Israelis are murdered by terrorists wielding knives and bombs. Hamas and Hezbollah launch rockets into Israeli communities, where schoolchildren have to be trained to hear the sirens and run to the bomb shelters - with fear, but with speed. ISIS targets Jewish neighborhoods, synagogues and storefronts. And Iran's leaders routinely call for Israel's destruction. Not with Donald J. Trump, believe me."

 

Thunderous applause greeted his words. It lasted for almost a full minute.

 

"Thank you," Trump said four times, waiting for the applause to die down, before ad-libbing: "I like you too."

 

Trump spoke to some 300 people, including Israeli ministers, politicians, business leaders, ambassadors and visiting dignitaries, including former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, US billionaire Sheldon Adelson and former Hawaiian governor Linda Lingle.

 

As the Israeli politicians waited for Trump to enter the museum's small auditorium, decked with an Israeli and US flag, they spoke with reporters about the high and low points of Trump's two-day trip.

 

National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said that Iran had been the "main topic" of the visit, both on the president's first stop in Saudi Arabia and in Israel, as Trump sought to create an common regional alliance to Tehran.

 

Iranian aggression all over the Middle East - in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Gaza - is the main threat for Israel for the Sunni Arab states, Steinitz said, adding: "I am happy that the US, finally after three or four years of appeasement of the Iranians, decided under the Trump leadership to create some kind of regional alliance."

 

He was, however, concerned that the $110 billion dollar arms deal the US signed with Saudi Arabia during Trump's visit could, in the future, harm Israel's qualitative military edge in the region.

 

"No one can say in the Middle East what will be the Saudi position five or 10 years from now," Steinitz said. "Therefore this is a matter of concern for Israel."

 

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) spoke of his disappointment that Trump had not made good on his preelection pledge to move the US Embassy to Tel Aviv.

 

"I think it is time that the world community recognizes the laws of gravity. Jerusalem is Israel's capital and will remain so undivided," he said. "I am pretty confident that gradually the world will recognize Jerusalem as its capital," and that "it's unnatural that it has not happened yet."

 

Trump's trip, Bennett said, underscored the bond between Israel and the American people, even though he was not able to promise the Israeli people everything they wanted to hear.

 

Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) said that Trump's visit to the Western Wall was more important than relocating the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

 

Hopefully this will happen, he said, but the embassy will "be moved to west Jerusalem, a place that is not in dispute. The Kotel and the Temple Mount are in a disputed area, in the Old City," Hanegbi said.

 

By visiting the Western Wall, a US president was exposed for the first time to the love and the linkage the Jewish feel for their holiest sites, Hanegbi said, adding: "I believe that we heard an American president that loves Israel and understands Israel" and "is not going to change his commitment to this holy place."

 

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Llkud) said Trump's speech "was an expression of deep friendship to Israel and a fresh way of thinking," particularly with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

Unlike his predecessors, Hotovely said, Trump did not try to dictate the terms of any future agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. She was particularly pleased that Trump has spoken out against the Palestinian Authority payments to terrorists and their families, and that he did not criticize settlement building, "after so many presidents speaking of an agreement that should be reached between Israelis and Palestinians in a certain way, and only in one direction."

 

MK Michael Oren (Kulanu), a former Israeli ambassador to the US, said Trump's visit was a message of support and love for Israel. He added that the Trump administration created the possibility of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by removing the two key demands: a two-state solution to the pre-1967 lines, and a settlement freeze as a precondition for talks.

 

Instead, Oren said, Trump has given the Palestinians and Arab leaders incentives to come up with more appropriate formulas for peace-building in the region.

 

He added that no Israeli government could have met the demands set by the Obama administration, which put so many obstacles in the path of peace that progress was impossible.

 

During this visit, Oren said, Trump "removed those obstacles."

 

Former foreign minister MK Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) said that Trump "needs to know that in Israel there is a majority to make a big deal, peace between us and the entire Arab world. I agree with the president that there is an opportunity here, but it is time for leaders to seize that opportunity."

 

Livni said that "the trip to Israel is very important," but that "no less important is the day after. This is the visit embracing Israel. We embrace the US and the president as well. Now it is time for policy making."

 

 

Has President Trump Laid the Foundation for Better Days with Israel? - Dr David Reagan - www.lamblion.com

 

This week President Trump made Israel his priority stop during his first foreign trip as president, a trip notably scheduled quicker than the past five U.S. presidents who visited Israel before him. The original purpose of the trip was to signal tighter US-Israel ties. Trump also wished to erase the acrimony many felt festered between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama.

 

After eight years of the stormiest relationship with Israel in U.S. history, has President Trump laid the foundation for better days ahead?

 

This question was asked of Bill Koenig on our television program Christ in Prophecy. Bill has been a White House Correspondent for the last fifteen years. He is president of a news website called World Watch Daily, and he publishes a weekly report called "Koenig's Eye View from the White House." Bill is also the author of a telling book titled Revealed: Obama's Legacy.

 

[Note: Bill's answer below has been edited slightly for grammar and clarity.]

 

New Relations With Israel

 

Bill Koenig: Chapter 3 of my book is titled, "Israel's Existence in Danger and Middle East Chaos." It examines the contemptuous relationship the United States fostered with Israel due to President Obama and the many repercussions since his departure.

 

At the beginning of Obama's first term, as soon as Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State, she had this misguided idea of putting the squeeze on Israeli settlement construction. That certainly started the relationship off on the wrong foot. US-Israeli relations fared no better after her while John Kerry was Secretary of State. He didn't treat Israel well at all.

 

Right after he took office in January 2009, President Obama went to the Turkish parliament and then on to Cairo, Egypt. On June 4, 2009, he addressed the Muslim world directly, talking about how great Islam was and the importance of Islamic relations here in the United States. One misstep after another after another came out of the Obama Administration in order to appease Islam and pressure Israel.

 

Obama wouldn't even entertain a formal press conference with Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu. At one time even, Obama snuck Netanyahu into the White House through the kitchen, leaving him there unannounced, and then went up and had dinner alone with his family. Obama didn't treat Netanyahu very well.

 

So, obviously, Netanyahu is very happy about the new Trump Administration. President Trump greeted Netanyahu during his first visit back to the White House with full honors, and held a press conference with him afterwards. I was there to see it in person, and the meeting was fantastic. Spirits were very good!

 

A Shift in Policy

 

The good news concerning a potential new war in the Middle East is that the Trump Administration is operating the best, most realistic, most pragmatic security team in history. Men like Mattis, McMaster, Pompeo with the CIA, and others are key people who fully understand the number one threat to Israel and to the United States, and frankly to the International community at large, is the state of Iran. They are not afraid to call Iran for what it truly is - an Islamic terrorist state. That's absolutely a huge shift in our government's position concerning Islam.

 

Clearly, I'm rather optimistic that our relations with Israel will continue to improve under a Trump presidency, without a doubt. They started off from the first day on the right foot to improve significantly. The Sunni countries are even excited about the Trump Administration's security team, because they already have had a good working relationship with Mattis, McMaster, and the other generals. These men are true warriors. We had the warrior mentality taken out of the Pentagon during Obama's time in office, but the warrior mentality has returned and is back in charge of the Pentagon. The warrior mentality is vital to our national security and is key to our national defense, and also helps protect our good friend Israel.

 

General Mattis, the Secretary of Defense, went on his very first trip over to South Korea and Japan. While there he said that the United States would stand and defend our allies. It was a veiled message to North Korea and China. China has been usurping islands within Japanese territory, and Mattis made it clear that the U.S. was going to defend them. His next trip was to NATO, and while meeting with the NATO leaders he conveyed that the U.S. was committed to NATO, but stipulated that every nation needed to pay their fair share. It was a great meeting!

 

Mattis is incredibly popular. He even was approved 98 to 1 in the Senate, which gives you an idea of his clout. The Media gave Mattis the nickname Mad Dog, which he doesn't fully appreciate, but the guy's a warrior and an intellect. He's read probably 5,000 or 6,000 books on history. The man truly understands history.

 

McMasters' strength is being an out-of-the-box thinker. Pompeo's got a proven track record as a great Christian congressman and now head of the CIA. He was probably the most outspoken member of Congress about the bad Iran Deal. He's already been over to the Middle East before. Good things will be happening with these guys!

 

Hope for Israel

 

Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world, about the size of New Jersey. The country's dimensions are only about 300 miles long and about 75 miles wide. Israel's population remains very small at nearly 6.5 million Jews, with 1.5 million Arabs living within its borders. Surrounding the nation of Israel are 350 million Arabs, many who want Israel destroyed. The situation looks hopeless for Israel.

 

Myself though, I believe there remains hope for Israel's survival, because the God of Israel will always protect and defend His Name. Our Heavenly Father neither slumbers nor sleeps.

 

As a watchman in these end times, I keep informing people of what's happening from a biblical perspective. We are living during the most exciting time of biblical history. Bible prophecy plays out right before our eyes!

 

I used to speak 15-20 years ago about the two or three final day events playing out at the same time. Today, though, we have every sign of the end times the Bible gives us playing out all at once. Prophecy has accelerated at a breathtaking pace. The time-clock to look at for when prophecy will be fulfilled is Jerusalem. Every nation in the world wants to divide the city of Jerusalem. Virtually almost every nation in the world wants to give Judea and Samaria to a future Arab state. None of this should surprise us, for the Bible prophesied about these events long, long ago.

 

The book of Zechariah states that in the end times the whole world will come against Israel over the issue regarding who controls Jerusalem. Jerusalem will become a burdensome stone to the world. We are seeing that specific Bible prophecy being fulfilled, played out in the daily news. Jerusalem remains the focus of the world. When some Palestinian throws a rock at a Jew in Israel, or vice versa, well it's front page news heard all around the world. When a suicide bomber runs his truck into an Israeli crowd, the story makes front page news. For every Middle East peace conference that is held, or if Israel starts building homes in Judea and Samaria, that's front page news throughout the world.

 

The fact that the whole world obsesses over this tiny little country, a country the size of New Jersey, stands out as biblically significant. God remains the God of Israel as always before. I've been watching this scenario play out for a long time, and it's really exciting, and it helps me keep world events in a healthy perspective. Because, for the first time, all the signs of the end times are converging.

 

Also significant to me is the year 2017. We have some historical patterns converging in 2017 and 2018. Many don't realize that 2017 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. Next year is the seventieth anniversary of Israel becoming a state.

 

I feel that those who understand Bible prophecy are so blessed. Sure, sadly we're a small percentage of people who attend church, and even understand the biblical significance of the times in which we are living. We are such a small minority who fully understands that Genesis to Revelation is the Word of God, and when we understand God's Word, how awesome it is to watch His divine plan play out!

 

Trump: Iran must disarm militias, never gain nuke -

http://www.debka.com/article/26068/Trump-Iran-must-disarm-militias-never-gain-nuke

 

"We can declare with one voice that Iran must not be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon ever, ever and must cease training terrorists and militias immediately!' said US President Donald Trump in a statement he issued at the Israeli president's residence in Jerusalem on Monday on May 22, shortly after arriving in Israel.

 

"I come her to affirm that we are not only friends, but allies and will stand together always," he went on to say and urged: "We must strengthen our cooperation, as we both face common threats from ISIS and other terrorists who foment terrible violence all over the world. Together we can end scores of years of violence," he said.  Trump, who flew to Israel directly from Riyadh, reported on the strong consensus he found in the Muslim world on the need to stand up together against Iran.

 

He cited Saudi King Salman in this consensus, adding that the monarch and other Arab rulers feel strongly about the need for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Many of them, he said, expressed the will to end extremism, after hearing his speech. He also found a growing realization among the Arab and Muslim leaders he met in Riyadh Sunday of "their common cause with Israel under threat from Iran" and a willingness to help in the peace effort.

 

Trump said he was honored to be in the homeland of the Jewish people. He commended Israel's commitment to peace and said he looked forward to discussing the process with the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem Tuesday.

 

In a throwaway remark to reporters on arrival at the president's residence, the US president said he had two first-rate envoys working on promoting a peace treaty, and named his special Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt and the new US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman. He joked: "If there is no peace, I'll know whom to blame."

 

President Reuven Rivlin said: We can't wake up with Iran and Hezbollah on our border. We want Iran out of Syria, out of Lebanon and away from our borders, and we must move forward to this goal together with America."

 

debkafile:  Donald Trump once again rebutted media evaluations of his trip to Israel as a demonstration of friendship without real content. Very shortly after his arrival, he stood up at the president's residence in Jerusalem and delivered a string of important policy statements and new revelations:

 

1. Iran would not be permitted to possess a nuclear weapon.

2, Iran must dismantle the Shiite terrorists and militias.

3. Iran must remove all those same foreign militias from Syria.

4. Iran must evacuate Hezbollah forces from Syria and disarm this Lebanese Shiite organization.

5.  The Saudi King Salman had told him first hand of his fervent wish for an Israeli-Palestinian peace. Trump heard the same sentiment from other Arab and Muslim rulers.

 

Our military sources add: The issue of the pro-Iranian militias ties in directly with the battlefield confrontation building up in the past fortnight along Syria's borders with Jordan and Iraq. debkafile reports have disclosed the arrival of American and other Western special operations forces at a key crossing. They were followed this week by Russian elite contingents, who arrived nearby to support a Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah scheme to grab this vitally important border. The Americans are positioned there to prevent Iran from forging a land bridge from Tehran to Syria through Iraq by seizing control of this strategic border.

 

 

A Biblical Perspective - Can President Trump Bring Peace to the Middle East? - David Pepe -

http://www.theignorantfishermen.com/2012/04/global-bloodbath-and-armageddon-then.html

 

President Trump's Middle East tour has been going very well and many are optimistic of the future of that region! Trump's encouraging, bold and stern message to Middle Eastern leaders and to the evil empire of Iran has been very much applauded and quite refreshing especially after the last eight years under the lawless globalist and anti Semite Obama. It is no secret to any that the Middle East - especially Israel and the Palestinians - hold the key to global peace in many ways and many see Trump after this visit as the man to finally accomplish it.

 

Can President Trump be the one to bring peace to that region and to the city Jerusalem? Well, if you live in a subjective world void of Almighty God's Word and are practicing unbelief while walking in the darkness and vanity of your own mind then you might think so; since those who are unbelieving walk in darkness and have zero vision of this world's future and what it will exactly take to achieve peace in the Middle East. Almighty God through the centuries has spelled out quite clearly in His INFALLIBLE Word what it will take to bring TRUE peace to Jerusalem and to this world; but none dare want to know for in knowing one must condemn himself and turn in repentance to His Creator and Savior the Lord Jesus Messiah (John 3:16-17, Acts 4:12). It is the rejection of the Savior of this world by this world that will lead to the global bloodbath of the seven year tribulation; and it will be the ravishing of Israel under the anti Christ (Matt. 24:15-19, Rev. 12;13) climaxing with the global bloodbath of Armageddon at Messiah's glorious return; which Jesus Messiah will obliterate the global armies of the Anti Christ and finally bring about a TRUE and EVERLASTING PEACE to Jerusalem (the City of Peace), to the nation of Israel and to the world (Isa. 24:5-6, Dan. 9:24-27, Zech. 12:4,14:2-4, Rev. 19:11-21)!

 

What Israel and the nations have attempted for centuries and could NEVER achieve will finally be accomplished at Almighty God the Son's second coming to earth (Psalm 2, 24:7-10, 110, Isa. 2:3, 9:6-7, 33:22, 51:5,61:1-11, Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45, 7:13-14, Micah 4:1-3, Zech. 14:16-21, Rev. 19:11-21)...

 

The TRUE Peace Comes to Jerusalem!

 

It will be ONLY by the Prince of Peace that TRUE and EVERLASTING PEACE will come to the City of Jerusalem (Isa. 9:6-7, 33:5, 53:5, 62;1, Jer. 33:16, Zech 8:3, Matt. 5:35, Rom. 10:2-4, Eph. 2:12-19, Col. 1:20, Heb. 1:3, 10:7-14). How many in vain through out the ages have sought and prayed in sincerity for the peace of Jerusalem WITHOUT knowledge nor understanding (Isa. 29:13, 58:1-8, Matt. 7:21-23, 15:3, 7-9, Mark 12:24)? Throughout the last 2600 years, how many sons of Abraham have totally missed the reality and truth of the Holy Scriptures of just how this Divine peace MUST be established (Deut. 9:6, 28-30,31:27, Lev. 26, Psalm 78, Isa. 53:5, Ezek. 12:2, Dan 9:26, Matt. 15:3-7-9, Luke 13:34-35, Acts 7, Rom. 9-11, Rev. 1:7)?

 

My dear friend, please try to comprehend that ALL current global events are indeed heading to this destination and EXPONENTIALLY beyond (Rev. 19:11-21)! Remember the words of the Lord Jesus in which He specifically told His disciples to pray, "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:9-10)." Oh my beloved! How many people pray this prayer day after day and are absolutely oblivious to what it is testifying to and stating! "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

 

It will indeed take the horrific seven year tribulation period to wake up the Jew and the gentile nations to this reality (Isa. 24:5-6, Rev. 6:14-17, 17:2). There is absolutely NO hope for Israel and the nations of the world apart for their Creator and Savior, Jesus Messiah (John 3:16-17, Eph. 2:12-16, Heb 1:2-3). It will NOT be until the Jew is reconciled with Jehovah God and receive their Messiah as their sacrificial lamb, propitiation and Savior that the nations WILL BE BLESSED (Isa. 2:1-4, 19:23-25, Micah 4:1-4, Zech. 8:23, Rom. 11:12) and TRUE DIVINE PEACE will go forth out of Jerusalem unto the entire world (Isa. 2:3-4,33:16, 62:1, Jer. 33:5)!

 

My friend, do you have a saving relationship to Jesus Messiah the Savior of the world (Psalm 110:1, Isa. 43:11,52:13-15, 53)? All depends on this very union. His death, burial and resurrection to the Right Hand of Almighty God is the center piece of all ETERNITY (Gen. 22:8, Psalm 110:1, Isa. 53, 1 Cor. 15:1-4, Rev. 1:18,13:8, 21-22:1-5). He will indeed come back to establish His Kingdom on His earth and the gates of Hell shall not nor NEVER prevent this from happening (Dan. 2:44-45, 7:13-14, Rev. 1:7, 16:13-16, 19:11-21).

 

As the days grow nearer to the Day of the Lord be sure that you know the Savior and Messiah of Israel as dictated by the Holy Scriptures!

 

The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

 

 

Trump's Promises to Israel Foretold in the Bible? - Tzippe Barrow - http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2017/may/trumps-promises-to-israel-foretold-in-the-bible

 

Donald and Melania Trump's first stop on their premier international tour benefitted royalty. That's how it was planned and that's how it's being orchestrated.

 

Saudi Arabia 'put on the dog' for the president and his contingency, welcoming them with as much flare as the monarchy could muster up. They wanted the world to see how seriously they take their newfound friendship with President Trump and his efforts to spread goodwill among the world's three great monotheistic religions.  

 

Americans are thrilled with the respect shown its president. And they believe it will produce a joint effort to fight the message of radical Islamic extremism.

                                                                       

Amid all the finery and lavish display, the Saudis pressed their point at a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, who touted Trump's "new approach and determination" to end the Israeli-Arab conflict.

 

"He certainly has the vision and we believe the strength and the decisiveness, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands prepared to work with the United States in order to bring about peace between Israelis and Palestinians - and Israelis and Arabs," the prince said, Arutz7 reported.

 

Fifteen years ago, the Saudi monarchy came up with a workable plan, one that all nations could agree on, except Israel.

 

In 2002, it announced a peace plan, backed by the Arab League, to resolve the conflict. They presented it as the best possible way to bring peace - not just in Israel - but in all of the Middle East.

 

The plan calls for Israel to roll back to the pre-1967 armistice lines, divide its capital and accept the "right of return" of as many as 6.5 million descendants of Arabs who left the country in 1948 and 1967 and have been kept in refugee status for future use against the Jewish state.

 

And in exchange for that, many Arab League member nations will accept Israel's right to exist - and maybe even sign a peace treaty with it, the way Egypt and Jordan did. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II are both lined up with the Saudi initiative.

 

Here's the short version according to God's plan. Sooner or later, all the nations of the world are going to unite against Israel.

 

In 1948, none of Israel's Arab neighbors accepted the U.N. partition. Instead, they attacked the nascent Jewish state, confident they would be victorious. They weren't.

 

Nearly 70 years later, they're professing, in the name of peace, to accept the original partition, dubbed "Auschwitz borders" because they're indefensible.

 

As the nation prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, when it defeated another multi-pronged attack by neighboring Arab countries, the nations of the world are calling on it to cede Judea and Samaria and re-divide Jerusalem, not a winning proposition from Israel's point of view.

 

It's not a little ironic that the man who campaigned on a pro-Israel platform may turn out to be God's chosen vessel to bring the Jewish state to the point that He steps in to defend her.

 

Peace, peace when there is no peace? (see Jeremiah 6, 8; Ezekiel 13) Un-walled villages? (see Ezekiel 38) Is it all coming to pass before our eyes?

 

Time will certainly tell.

 

President Trump's Momentous Visit to Western Wall Touches the People of Israel - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/88534/president-trump-makes-history-visiting-last-remnant-holy-temple-jerusalem/#A5QUtvGd8QuRHwv8.99

 

"At that time they shall call Yerushalayim the throne of Hashem; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Hashem, to Yerushalayim." Jeremiah 3:17 (The Israel Bible�)

 

In an unprecedented and historic gesture on Monday, US President Donald Trump became the first sitting American president ever to visit the Western Wall, the last remaining remnant of the Jewish Holy Temple destroyed 2,000 years ago and one of the holiest sites in Israel. The visit deeply touched the people of Israel, who saw it as a true affirmation that the president recognizes the Biblical and God-given nature of the Jewish land.

 

His visit came the day before Israel is due to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city's unification in the 1967 Six-Day War, when the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, returned to the Jews after 2,000 years.

 

All eyes were on President Trump, joined by wife, daughter, son-in-law and a large entourage of security personnel, as he made his way on Monday afternoon through the twisting cobblestone alleys of the Old City to emerge onto the completely emptied plaza of the Western Wall, or Kotel - a trip no other acting president has ever made.

 

The president was greeted there by the rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, and Mordechai Eliav, director-general of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, who presented him with a Book of Psalms. After speaking with the rabbi, Trump approached the wall alone, standing for several moments in prayer at the holy site, a black kippah on his head. His prayers complete, he placed a note in the wall and respectfully backed away before turning to leave, as Jewish tradition requires.

 

The significance of the event was undeniable. Israel held its breath as the president made his pivotal visit, and media instantly exploded with videos, photos and analysis of the moving moment that the leader of the free world placed his hand on the ancient stones to pray.

 

Trump himself clearly internalized the spiritual and political implications of the act, even changing the cover photo on his Twitter account to the instantly iconic image of himself standing at the Kotel.

 

But perhaps the most significant - and unnoticed - result of Trump's deep connection to the heart of Israel came when the White House broke with decades of policy by quietly acknowledging that Jerusalem is, in fact, part of the Jewish state, posting the video feed of Trump's visit on its official website with the caption "Jerusalem Israel".

 

Though Congress officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 1995, the White House does not acknowledge this in official communications. On at least two occasions, the previous administration amended communications that identified Jerusalem as being in Israel.

 

Trump's entourage was also deeply affected by the president's worship. In an unrehearsed and touching move, a number of White House staffers and security forces, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, donned kippot and moved forward to pray at the wall.

 

The women of the White House made a powerful multi-faith gesture. Ivanka, the president's Jewish daughter, prayed at the Kotel in the adjacent women's section, dressed modestly, her hair symbolically covered in the manner of married women. Visibly moved, tears filled her eyes as she prayed. Ivanka converted to Judaism before marrying Jared Kushner, and was given the Hebrew name Yael. She posted on her Twitter account, "It was deeply meaningful to visit the holiest site of my faith and to leave a note of prayer."

 

First Lady Melania Trump also prayed at the site, pressing her hand against the stones and leaving a note. Melania has been noted for her Christian devotion, drawing national attention when she opened a rally in Florida during her husband's campaign by reciting a prayer from the New Testament.

 

Contained in this political gesture intended to bring Israel and the US closer was a powerful religious message. The First Family, composed of Jews and Christians, came together in Jerusalem to pray. Jared Kushner, raised in the Orthodox Jewish faith, prayed alongside his Christian father-in-law. Ivanka, an observant convert to Judaism, prayed alongside her Christian mother-in-law. No fuss was made in the media about the multi-faith nature of the prayer, but many noted the worshipers' apparent sincerity and devotion.

 

 

 Trump's prophetic message to Islam - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

 

In his first major foreign policy speech, the immediate previous "president" ventured into the heart of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and essentially agreed to partner with the terrorist organization to overthrow many governments in the Middle East through Arab Spring. While he didn't say that specifically, the destabilization of the Middle East was the result. This was a new direction for America in foreign policy regarding terrorism-that the US was not at war with Islam and never will be, according the ex-"president." At the same time, he fudged history saying that Islam and America share a rich history together-in reality, it is a sordid and violent history. Enter Donald Trump with a new message of nuance.

 

Trump went to Saudi Arabia where some of the most extreme Islamic violence is taught and exported through Wahhabism, yet many American politicians turn a blind eye to this as they pony up to Saudi money and influence. Trump was polite, but he had a different message to the Arab world than his predecessor. He said, "America is a sovereign nation and our first priority is always the safety and security of our citizens. We are not here to lecture-we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship. Instead, we are here to offer partnership - based on shared interests and values - to pursue a better future for us all."

 

Trump also made terror-which is nearly exclusive to Islam-a central theme of his speech.  He said, "But above all we must be united in pursuing the one goal that transcends every other consideration. That goal is to meet history's great test-to conquer extremism and vanquish the forces of terrorism...God's help, this summit will mark the beginning of the end for those who practice terror and spread its vile creed. At the same time, we pray this special gathering may someday be remembered as the beginning of peace in the Middle East - and maybe, even all over the world. But this future can only be achieved through defeating terrorism and the ideology that drives it."

 

He invoked "God" several times without defining who God is (allah or YHVH) and allowed each hearer of his message to personally determine who God is. But it was clear when he said that ending terrorism means "standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews and the slaughter of Christians." He said that religious leaders who choose the path of terror will have empty, brief lives and their souls "will be condemned." Trump continued as did his predecessors to gloss over the huge theological differences between Islam and those of Jews and Christians, but he put a stake in the ground against terrorism and the practices of Islam. This is pragmatic and prophetic.

 

Prophetic because he is saying emphatically that support of terrorism is condemnation of the soul and the US will not tolerate the slaughter of innocents, as Islam calls for in its Koran. In practicality, Trump is saying that the war against Jews and Christians is no longer acceptable or justified by actions that occurred centuries ago. Prophetically, he is saying America is back to supporting Israel against the extremism of Islam. Bottom line: God said of Israel in Genesis 12:3, "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee."  As a nation, we've had over a decade of declining relations with Israel and have suffered dire consequences for it. Now we have a chance to establish a different prophetic path.

 

 Trump vs Terror - By Hal Lindsey - http://www.hallindsey.com/ww-5-26-2017/  

On May 22nd at 10:30 PM local time, an ISIS suicide bomber targeted a Manchester concert audience of mostly teen and pre-teen girls. A few hours later, two unlikely men stood together on a stage in the ancient city of Bethlehem. President Donald Trump of the United States and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas each gave a brief statement before taking questions from the press.

"We would like to reassert our willingness," Abbas said to Trump, "to continue to work with you as partners in fighting terrorism in our region and in the world."

It was the kind of thing Abbas has said to western audiences many times before, and especially to U.S. presidents. But in the past, no president ever publicly called him on it while standing next to him. Quietly, diplomatically - Trump did.

Abbas claims to be America's partner, fighting terrorism in the region. But his government rewards terrorism, terrorists, and the families of terrorists with money and honor. A Palestinian in the region can give financial security to his family by committing a terrorist act. The Abbas government will give his family what they call a "salary" while he remains in prison. That "salary" will be at least as much as the average Palestinian annual wage, and can be four times the average. U.S. taxpayers help fund such "salaries."

If the terrorist dies as a suicide bomber, Abbas and his comrades will not just give money to the family, they will name a town square (perhaps more than one) in the terrorist's honor.

In other words, if the Manchester attack had been perpetrated by Palestinians against Jews, Abbas would have praised the attack, honored the attacker, and given a salary to his family. Abbas does not fight terrorism. He rewards it. He has made "terrorist" a respectable occupation, and the quickest route to fame and glory among his people. He is an enabler and encourager of terrorism.

When it was Trump's turn to speak, he went back to the theme of his speech to Muslim leaders in Riyadh a couple of days earlier. "The terrorists and extremists, and those who give them aid and comfort, must be driven out from our society forever."

The phrase, "those who give them aid and comfort," seemed to be a direct reference to the Palestinian policy of honoring and supporting terrorists and their families.

Later, Trump said something that left no doubt about his concerns regarding the Abbas government. He said, "Peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded and even rewarded."

In a Jerusalem Post editorial, Adam Rasgon wrote, "The only problem with Trump's request is that Abbas almost certainly cannot fulfill it as prisoners and 'martyrs' loom large in Palestinian society and the PA president's popularity is declining."

He's right. Abbas is too weak to stop paying terrorists' families. If he did it, his countrymen would rise up in arms against him. That weakness is a problem because any peace agreement would require strong leadership on both sides. The Palestinian leader's fragility makes a U.S.-brokered peace nearly impossible.

Abbas is now in the 15th year of a 5-year term. That makes his leadership completely illegitimate. And the Palestinians know it. 64% now say he should resign.

President Trump has been characteristically optimistic about the possibilities of peace. A few weeks ago, when he met Abbas at the White House, the President spoke of brokering a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. "It is something that I think is frankly, maybe, not as difficult as people have thought over the years."

We will see.

Real and lasting peace among nations will not arrive on earth until the return of Jesus. But that doesn't mean we should stop working for peace. We will not be able to achieve ultimate peace, but we should follow the teaching of Jesus and be peacemakers where and when we can.

In Matthew 5:9, the Lord said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." He knew our limitations. He knew that humans working for peace would not end all war. But when we work out even a season of peace, it alleviates massive levels of suffering. Avoiding another intifada means saving hundreds or even thousands of lives on both sides.

So, we should be peacemakers. But we should do so with humility. Some of the peace efforts of past Presidents have done great harm to both Israelis and Palestinians. They pushed Israel to do more than was fair, right, or safe. They inadvertently encouraged Palestinians to take a tough line. Some previous administrations gave Palestinians the false notion that they would gain more by waiting Israel out, than by honestly seeking peaceful coexistence.

In Psalms 122:6, King David wrote, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem."

We should work for peace here and now. But we should also remember that, ultimately, to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem," means to pray for the return of Jesus.

 

A Pre-Storm Bear Hug - Yaakov Katz - http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editors-Notes-A-pre-storm-bear-hug-493966  

Imagine you have been elected president of the United States and one day, after gathering your staff, you inform them that one of your goals will be to broker the "ultimate deal," a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians.

You then ask your staff for advice on how to get it done. Your advisers do some research and explain that what Israel needs is to feel safe and secure, that America has its back and will continue to ensure its qualitative military edge and protect it at the United Nations. Only then, your advisers tell you, will Israelis feel confident they can take risks and make the compromises and concessions needed to achieve a peace deal.

Now, with that in mind, think about the last seven months, since Donald Trump was elected president.

First, he announced that Jared Kushner, his Orthodox Jewish son-in-law whose family has longstanding ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would serve as his senior adviser.

He then appointed David Friedman, an old friend and bankruptcy lawyer he had used in the past, to be the ambassador to Israel. Friedman wasn't exactly a neutral appointment. A former president of the American Friends of Beit El, Friedman was a long-time supporter of the West Bank settlement enterprise and a strong advocate against the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Trump then announced that Jason Greenblatt, an executive vice president at the Trump Organization and another Orthodox Jew who studied years ago in a yeshiva in the West Bank, would become - under Kushner's supervision - his main envoy to Israel and the Palestinians.

Then, to top it all off, he made a historic trip to Israel this week. He started by taking the first direct flight between Riyadh and Tel Aviv and then became the first sitting US president to visit the Western Wall, the holiest prayer site for the Jewish people.

In addition, while other presidents such as Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all visited Israel during their terms in office, none came so early, let alone like Trump, on their first trip overseas.

I cannot say for certain that all of this was done by Trump simply to provide Israelis confidence, but even if that was not the case, his bear hug approach is working.

His trip to Israel this week, which ended with his impressive speech at the Israel Museum, has not only endeared Israelis to the US president but has also given them a genuine feeling that the man who occupies the Oval Office really does have their back. As the president said, ISIS and Iran might threaten to destroy Israel but they won't succeed. "Not with Donald J. Trump," he said to a standing ovation. "Believe me."

It was easy this week to believe Trump. There were no slips, no gaffes and even if the note he signed at Yad Vashem was a bit bizarre - he wrote, "It is a great honor to be here with all of my friends. So amazing and will never forget!" - he managed to spend two days in the deep end of one of the most complicated conflicts in the world without a major mishap.

He made seven public appearances and while he spoke frequently about peace and its advantages for Israel and the region, he never once mentioned the two-state solution, a Palestinian state or settlements.

He showered Israelis with love and they sent it right back to the extent that politicians from across the spectrum - on the Left and the Right - had difficulty saying something critical about Donald Trump. It's not easy to unite Israel's fragmented political system but Trump, the great polarizer, succeeded.

The question on everyone's mind though is, what's next? Was this the end of Trump's interest in Israel or just the beginning? Will he now return home to the investigations about his campaign's alleged affiliations with Russia and become too busy to think about the Middle East, or will those same investigations push him to try and score a goal somewhere overseas like Israel?

The general assessment in Jerusalem is that this is just the beginning. Greenblatt's return to Israel on Thursday as well as comments by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seem to indicate that this is the case. If so, the problems are just beginning.

For Netanyahu, this will soon get complicated since to get talks started, he will need to pay a price, and that will come as soon as June 7 when the committee that approves new housing in West Bank settlements meets for the first time in months.

Will it approve construction or not? If not, what will Naftali Bennett and Bayit Yehudi do? If Trump increases the pressure on Netanyahu to freeze settlement construction or to extend another grand gesture to the Palestinians, Bennett will have an excuse to pull out of the coalition and becomes a fierce opponent of Netanyahu on the Right.

This is assuming the prime minister can bring a new party into his government. In all likelihood, if there are peace talks, the Zionist Union's Tzipi Livni will be willing to join if Netanyahu lets her run the peace talks as she did in 2014.

A similar scenario exists for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. During his visit to Bethlehem on Tuesday, Trump hinted at the need for Abbas to stop paying salaries to jailed terrorists and the families of so-called "martyrs." Peace, he said, will not work "in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded or rewarded."

But what will happen if Trump orders Abbas to stop the payments? Will he? If Abbas does, all indications are that the Palestinian street will gang up against him. If he doesn't, he will be blamed for again preventing peace.

For Israel, there is another problem. During his visit here, Trump seemed to push a paradigm that goes something like this: Israel makes peace with the Palestinians and that paves the way for Israel to normalize ties and make peace with the rest of the Arab world. Basically, Palestinians first, Arab world second.

Netanyahu has spent the last few years pushing a different paradigm. He believes that what is needed is a regional framework that sees a normalization of ties with the entire Arab world at once. He doesn't believe a peace deal is possible with the Palestinians alone. Instead, what is needed is a peace deal with the Arab world, which happens to include the Palestinians.

These different paradigms are important to keep in mind since they could quickly lead to a clash between Jerusalem and Washington, one that Netanyahu will want to do everything possible to avoid, if not for the simple purpose of preserving his legacy.

Netanyahu has now worked with three US presidents. The first was Bill Clinton, whom he repeatedly clashed with during his first stint as prime minister in the late 1990s. The second was Barack Obama, whose tense and volatile relationship with Netanyahu was far from being a secret.

Now, there is Trump. Netanyahu went into this week praying that the trip would end the way it did - with the appearance, possibly even genuine, that the two men have a close friendship. The last thing Netanyahu needed was to clash with another president. That would make Israelis begin to think that the problem is not in Washington - as Netanyahu has told them all these years - but here at home or more specifically, in the Prime Minister's Residence on Balfour Street.

 

Nasrallah decries Saudi Arabia, Trump and Israel - Roi Kais - http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4967562,00.html  

In a fiery speech marking the 17th anniversary of the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Nasrallah blasts the US and Saudi Arabia for supporting Israel and forsaking Palestinians.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech Thursday referring to President Trump's recent visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Nasrallah strongly criticized the recent American-Saudi arms deal signed in Riyadh, saying, "Saudi Arabia has given Trump what he has been wanting-money to be used for Israel." Nasrallah further added that the Saudi summit "ignored Palestine and Palestinian prisoners."

Nasrallah made his comments at a rally marking the 17th anniversary of the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah was the topic of harsh words at the Riyadh summit, with the Saudis and the Americans calling for the organization to be disarmed. Nasrallah stressed that the statements made at the summit would not affect the internal situation within Lebanon.

"Saudi Arabia has surpassed Trump, who has insulted the Islamic and Arab nation. Saudi Arabia has surpassed the racist Trump as the biggest supporter of Israel. Saudi Arabia has given Trump something that no other US president has been given. What is behind this is Saudi Arabia's desire to defend its regime, which is already known to be behind the ideology of the terrorists."

Nasrallah also noted that despite all the measures Saudi Arabia has made in recent years, Iran's power has only grown.

"Saudi Arabia will be the one to lose as a result of her actions against Iran," said Nasrallah, who added, "The war against the resistance has been going on for a long time. Not war, nor fighting nor threats will scare the resistance. The resistance is stronger today than ever."

Nasrallah concluded his remarks by saying that the era of defeat has passed and the era of victory is arrived.

"The resistance will not evacuate the areas and battlefields until all the victories our people expect are achieved," Nasrallah proclaimed.