THE NEW NATION:

PALESTINE

MORRIS CERULLO

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form

without written permission of Morris Cerullo World Evangelism.

All Scripture references are from the King James Version of the

Bible unless annotated otherwise.

Copyright © 2002

MORRIS CERULLO WORLD EVANGELISM

P. O. Box 85277 • San Diego, CA 92186

(858) 277-2200

e-mail: morriscerullo@mcwe.com

Web site: www.mcwe.com

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Israel—“A Cup of Trembling”. ............................................5

Chapter 2

Can There Be Peace?. .........................................................13

Chapter 3

A Palestinian State. ............................................................19

Chapter 4

From Now to the End. ........................................................23

Chapter 5

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. .........................................29

CHAPTER 1

I SRAEL—“A CUP OF TREMBLING”

1

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all

the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both

against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I

make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that

burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the

people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Zechariah 12:2-3

God’s Word has long stood the test of time. Whether it

is the ancient times of Zechariah or the modern times of

today’s prophets and apostles; God’s Word has borne out

to be true time and time again—no matter what the test!

As Zechariah prophesied so many years ago,

Jerusalem has indeed proven to be “a cup of trembling" to

the nations.

No other city has been so controversial, caused so

many wars, been fought over for so long, and been the

subject of adoration for so many.

From the Old Testament times to the time of Jesus,

Jerusalem was constantly in the hearts of the Jews; and in

A.D. 70, when the Jews were dispersed from the land, the

nation and its capital became the subject of a new set of

wars.

During the Crusades of the Middle Ages, Jerusalem

was the carrot that led so many to dedicate their lives to

leave their European homelands and attack the "infidels"

that had “polluted” the city of David.

The Muslims against whom the Europeans were fighting

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The New Nation: Palestine

meanwhile, fought for a land that had become their home—

and a city that had become their religion’s third-holiest site,

the site of their prophet’s “nighttime journey.”

Once again, Jerusalem was the “cup of trembling" that

stirred the hearts of nations.

From Sept. 29, 1923, until May 14, 1948, Britain

controlled the region, but by 1947 Britain appealed to the

United Nations to solve the complex problem of

competing Palestinian and Jewish claims to the land.

Slowly, the Jews, after almost 2,000 years, began to

return to the land of their ancestors. After the Holocaust,

where German madman Adolph Hitler tried—almost

successfully—to rid the entire world of Jews once and for

all, the Jews began to desire a state of their own. They

wanted to be a nation, not a dispersed people.

In Aug. 1947, the U.N. proposed dividing Palestine

into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and a small international

zone. Arabs rejected the idea. As soon as Britain pulled out

of Palestine in 1948, neighboring Arab nations invaded,

intent on crushing the newly declared State of Israel.

Israel emerged victorious in the war, affirming its

power and right to exist. The remaining areas of Palestine

were divided between Transjordan (now Jordan), which

annexed the West Bank, and Egypt, which gained control

of the Gaza Strip.

But Jerusalem was still the main point of contention

between the various nations in the Middle East—and

largely the world.

In the 20th century, a new commodity became precious

to nations all over the world. That commodity—

petroleum, added fuel to the fire, so to speak, because the

Arab nations of the Middle East were rich with it, and the

rest of the world needed it.

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Israel—“A Cup of Trembling”

The dilemma changed the dynamics of the world’s

dealing with the Middle East.

Through a series of political and social policies, Jordan

sought to consolidate its control over the political future of

the Palestinians and to become their speaker. Jordan even

extended citizenship to the Palestinians in 1949. In the

Gaza Strip, administered by Egypt from 1948 to 1967,

poverty and unemployment were high, and most of the

Palestinians lived in refugee camps.

The entire world began to pay attention to the tiny

strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the

Jordan River. The Jews were not willing to give up their

claim to it, and the Arabs were not willing to let Jews

control their third-holiest site.

In 1967, Egypt, Syria and Jordan invaded Israel to lay

claim to the land they regarded as their own.

Far from accomplishing their goal, however, the war

was a disaster for the three nations.

Israel, over a period of six days, defeated the military

forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan and annexed the

territories of East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the West

Bank, the Gaza Strip, and all of the Sinai Peninsula.

The shockwaves were massive. Israel, a tiny nation

that had been around for less than 20 years, had in six

days defeated three of the Middle East’s most powerful

militaries, including that of Egypt.

Not only had Israel defended its own territory, it had

actually gained more ground through the aggression of its

neighbors.

Of course, the fact that Israel now exclusively controlled

Jerusalem set off indignation in nearly every Muslim all over

the world.

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The Palestinian Liberation Organization bent its efforts of

terrorism on Israel’s annihilation.

Palestinian rioting, demonstrations, and terrorist acts

against Israelis became chronic. In 1974, PLO leader Yasser

Arafat addressed the U.N. General Assembly, the first

stateless government to do so. Violence again escalated in

1987 during the “intifada” (shaking off,) a new era in

Palestinian mass mobilization. In 1988, Arafat proclaimed

the independence of the Palestinian State (including the

West Bank and Gaza Strip) as a government-in-exile, and

publicly denounced the use of terrorism to achieve

political goals.

In 1993, secretive talks in Norway between the PLO

and the Israeli government resulted in “the Oslo

Agreement.”

The accord stipulated a five-year plan in which

Palestinians of the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip would

gradually become self-governing. On Sept. 13, 1993, Arafat

and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin signed a historic

agreement, under which, Israel pulled out of the Gaza

Strip and Jericho in the West Bank, in 1994.

Under this agreement, the Palestinian Liberation

Organization became the Palestinian Authority, with

Arafat as its leader, and worked toward self-governance.

But in the year 2000, that all fell apart. Provoked by

Likud hard-liner Ariel Sharon’s visit to the compound

called Temple Mount by the Jews and Haram al Sharif by

the Muslims, a fiercely contested site that is sacred to both

Jews and Muslims. The continuing violence, dubbed the

Al Aqsa intifada, fueled growing concerns about Israeli

security, paving the way for Sharon’s stunning landslide

victory over Barak in February, which outraged

Palestinians and much of the Arab world. Palestinians

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Israel—“A Cup of Trembling”

began to riot and launch terror attacks on Israeli citizens,

and Israel’s response, often with military force, only

increased the vehemence of the Palestinians’ outrage.

The danger to the world is multiple.

Radical hard-liners like Osama bin Laden twist Islam’s

teachings to fit their own peculiar beliefs, including:

killing non-Muslims is righteous.

So, all over the world, the Israeli “occupation” of

Jerusalem has become a pretext for terrorism, with

brainwashed young men killing themselves in the hopes

of winning eternal glory for their “martyrdom.”

The extent of that terror became obvious on Sept. 11,

2001, as 19 young men hijacked four airplanes and crashed

two into the World Trade Center Towers, in New York

City; the Pentagon, in Washington D.C.; and lost another

to a passenger rebellion over the skies of Pennsylvania.

But the political balancing act that the Western world

must perform was patently obvious even before the terror

attacks of Sept. 11. During the Gulf War, in which America

mustered a coalition of many nations to liberate Kuwait

from the invading Iraqi armies and to protect Saudi Arabia

from Iraq, Saddam Hussein played upon anti-Israeli fervor

among the Middle Eastern nations, as he sent Scud

missiles raining into Israel, in an attempt to draw the

Jewish state into the conflict.

Hussein was banking on the idea that if he could get

Israel to join the war against him, Muslim outrage would

galvanize the Middle East against Israel and the American

“infidels” who were attacking Hussein.

With incredible success, America convinced Israel to

forgo retaliation for the death that was raining down from

the skies, so that, the anti-Iraq coalition could hold

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together under the numerous international pressures it

faced.

But even more, the Middle East’s oil keeps the world

on its toes; the nation that offends the Middle Eastern oil-

rich countries does so at its own peril. If the region cuts off

the oil supply, the consequences would be dire—global

depression could easily result from such a situation.

Again, because of its position at the center of the

controversy, Jerusalem has proven itself to be the

fulfillment of the Bible’s Words—“a cup of trembling” to the

nations.

The issues that divide the two sides are deep. They

can’t be solved with campaign slogans, and they can’t be

solved by brute force. The solution will have to come

through both sides realizing that each has a legitimate

claim.

Israel received the land as God’s gift to their father,

Abraham. God promised Abraham that the land would be

a possession for his descendants forever.

The nation inhabited the land from 40 years after their

liberation from Egypt until their dispersion at the hands of

Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar some 400 years before

Christ. It then inhabited the land from a time of about 70

years later until the dispersal at the hands of the Roman

armies in A.D. 70.

But the Palestinians lived in the land for a long time,

too. They lived there through the ages in which Israel was

dispersed.

Though they did not have a national identity, while in

the land, they considered the land their home; and when

they were removed from it, the disgruntlement ran deep.

Solving such deep identification with the land while

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Israel—“A Cup of Trembling”

appeasing both sides is made more difficult by the fact

that the tiny strip of land is revered by three of the world’s

largest religions.

Judaism’s reverence of the land is obvious—it was the

land given to them by their father, Abraham.

Islam’s reverence of the land is based upon the mosque

where their prophet was supposed to have ascended to

heaven.

And Christians hold the land in reverence because it

was both the land of Abraham and the land in which Jesus

walked, taught, and performed his miracle ministry while

He was in human flesh on the earth.

Those dynamics complicate the picture to the point

that some have given up hope that there will ever be peace

in the region.

But, the reality is, peace will come to the region—and

likely sooner than anyone thinks possible.

11

CHAPTER 2

C

AN THERE BE PEACE?

2

There’s an old—and largely mythological—statement

in newsrooms around the world: “if it bleeds, it leads.”

The statement means that gory news is likely to garner

the “lead” position on a newspaper or in a newscast—the

position of most prominence, ostensibly because it is the

news the reader wants to read about the most.

No newspaper in the world is going to run a story that

says, “33 years and counting, and Bob Smith still hasn’t

killed anyone. Details in tomorrow’s paper.”

A plane taking off, flying to its destination and landing

without incident is not news, a plane crashing is.

Nations getting along with each other is not news.

Normal people acting in normal ways is not news, to

most people.

If most people want to read about normal people, they

can read their own diary, not the newspaper. If they want

to see a video about normal people, they can watch a

Christmas video from their own house.

News is made up of the extraordinary.

When a plane crashes, it’s news because it’s unusual,

and it’s horrifying to think that hundreds of people with

no control over their situations careened helplessly to their

deaths; impotent to do anything but watch death approach

outside their porthole-sized windows.

If a plane crashed every day, it would soon cease to be

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news—it would be ordinary, and people would grow

weary of reading about it.

Similarly, when groups of people gather to protest a

certain action or nation, it’s generally not considered very

important news unless huge numbers are arrested—or if

some of them die.

That is the reality of the modern news cycle.

In a very real sense, “if it bleeds, it leads.”

Such an idiom, in-practice, tends to give the spotlight

to elements of society that otherwise would never receive

a public forum.

More radical elements receive news coverage because

they tend to do more radical things.

Moderates aren’t deemed worthy of news coverage

because moderates tend to act in moderation.

The radicals who blow up school buses and disco halls

get the lion’s share of international news coverage in

Israel.

The extremists who shout anti-Israeli sentiments and

burn American flags or those who murder innocent

citizens, get huge amounts of coverage—and that,

disproportionate coverage situation tends to give the

world a skewed view of the Middle East, and of Israel in

particular.

As the world looks through their television sets, they

tend to think ot Israel as a violent place, where galvanized

actions fight all the time, with every citizen vested

fundamentally in one side or the other.

But that perception is far from accurate.

There are plenty of people on both sides of the

Israel/Palestine debate who are not radical partisans of

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Can There Be Peace?

either side.

Many Palestinians just long for the violence and

trouble to end.

Many Israelis just long for peace and quiet, and the

ability to send their children to school without worrying

about whether the next bus that's blown up will be the one

carrying their children.

Though there are factions on both sides that are radical

and will likely never give up their sides, there are such

radical segments in any population.

Even in America, there are extremists like Timothy

McVeigh, who so thoroughly distrust and disdain the

American government that they resort to techniques

similar to the PLO’s terrorism to accomplish their goals.

But the difference between Israel’s troubles and

America’s troubles is, that despite the existence of radical

extremist factions in both nations, America is largely at

peace from within.

But Israel is wracked with violence nearly every day.

America proves that people who profoundly disagree

with each other can live together without their

disagreements becoming the impetus for violence.

So, from the perspective of diametrically opposed

factions living in peace together, peace is certainly

possible, if each side is given the freedom to express their

viewpoints without being given free reign to act on those

feelings to the detriment of society.

But, even more so, peace is possible—more now than

ever in Israel because both sides are sick of fighting.

Palestinians are sick of fighting the Israelis. Many

Palestinian residents simply want a place they can call their

own so they can put the entire conflict with Israel behind

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them.

And, many Israelis just want to be able to walk down the

street without having to look over their shoulders or cringe

at the sight of an unfamiliar car parked in front of their

apartment buildings.

Peace is possible because both sides in the conflict are

war-weary.

On top of those factors, peace has become a primary

objective of the American President George W. Bush.

For the first time, an American president has publicly

stated that the creation of a Palestinian state is among the

chief goals of U.S. / Middle Eastern policy.

That gives more legitimacy to the Palestinian push for a

national homeland, and it puts extra pressure on Israel to

give more concessions to the Palestinians in negotiations for

peace.

But more than that, the declaration gives the world a

glint of real hope that peace can and will be achieved in

Israel in our lifetimes.

With American support for a Palestinian state, it is

almost a certainty that it will become a reality. In fact, all

that really needs to be worked out now are the details.

The Palestinian vision for a Palestinian state is the

creation of a state comprised of the West Bank and The

Gaza strip, with Jerusalem as its capital.

But Bush has signaled that the Palestinians will have to

make concessions on “the Jerusalem issue” to achieve their

vision for a Palestinian state (more on that in the next

chapter).

It appears as well, that the Palestinians have given the

Americans assurances, that if a Palestinian state is created,

peace will come to the region because their pretext for

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Can There Be Peace?

terrorism will be gone.

The Palestinian Authority has essentially promised to

crack down on terrorism, if, it gets what it wants—a nation

of its own.

Many skeptical Westerners view such promises as

empty and unattainable because of the history of failure to

deal with terrorism.

But in this case, their skepticism does not seem to be

well placed.

Even though, the history of terrorism is deep and

enduring with the PLO, the situation now is different—

America has declared war on terrorism, and a Palestinian

state that supported terrorism would not long endure.

Part of that war on terrorism, is doubtlessly a goal to

end terrorism, in Israel—meaning the Americans will

extend tremendous effort to see peace come to the region.

Is peace in the region possible? Not only is it possible,

it is very improbable that peace will not come to the

region.

17

CHAPTER 3

A

PALESTINIAN STATE

3

The great fear in Israel about the idea of a Palestinian

State is based on solid history.

In past wars, the attacks on the Jewish state were

launched from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the

Golan Heights.

The fear runs deep that the creation of a Palestinian

state would hand over that strategic land to a nation that

has declared itself the enemy of Israel forever, leading to

yet another costly war.

The fear is not frivolous.

In charter documents, Palestinians have declared that

nothing but the elimination of the nation of Israel would

satisfy them.

The radical elements that rain terrorism down on Israel

are also adept at manipulating a largely sympathetic

world press. To the international press, the radicals

portray themselves as peace-seeking persecuted people.

While the press considers radicals friendly, the radicals

spew forth vitriolic hatred of Israel, Christians, and Jews.

“These Zionists are not fit to establish a nation or to

have their own language or even their own religion. They

are nothing more than a hodgepodge,” states an article in

the Palestinian Authority newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah

on Sept. 2, 1997. Another article in the same issue claimed:

The Jews live by the Talmud and the Protocols of the

Elders of Zion. The conflict between Muslim and Jews is

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an eternal conflict, similar to the conflict between

mankind—the Muslims, and Satan—the Jews, and how

unfortunate the Palestinians are that they have to serve

as the Muslims’ avant-garde in the eternal battle of the

Muslims and all the nations against the nation of Jews.

Palestinian Authority, President Yasser Arafat said,

Rescuing Jerusalem from the devil of invasive

settlements and from the danger of Judaization obliges

us to take serious and urgent actions to protect the city

and prevent the Israeli plan ... to protect it from the

danger of invasive Judaization, which aims at

eliminating its Islamic and Arab identity, obscure its

historic and cultural heritage, and sully the lofty holy

and religious sites.

In a statement, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of

Information claimed that archaeological excavations in the

Old City have found “Umayyad Islamic palaces, Roman

ruins, Armenian ruins and others, but nothing Jewish.” The

ministry also falsely claimed that “there is no tangible

evidence of any Jewish traces/remains in the old city of

Jerusalem and its immediate vicinity.”

In addition, this sermon was broadcast by the Palestinian

Authority’s official radio station: “The colonialist settlers are

the descendants of monkeys and pigs,” declared the senior

PLO religious authority, Mufti Ikrama Sabri, in a sermon at

the Al Aqsa mosque.

With such hatred of the Jews being published openly in

the Palestinian Authority-controlled media, it’s a small

wonder that the Western world rarely hears such talk.

Arafat was heard once to remark that Adolph Hitler, who

killed 6 million Jews, didn’t go far enough.

But Westerners rarely hear such proclamations.

Instead, they get the watered-down peace ovations.

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A Palestinian State

It is that duplicity that makes Jewish nationals and

their friends skeptical of Palestinian ovations to peace.

But the fact is (as we’ll see in the next chapter),

Palestine will not only make peace with Israel as a

condition of statehood, it will KEEP that peace and honor

its agreement—for a time.

21

CHAPTER 4

F ROM NOW TO THE END

4

As I have mentioned in previous books and articles,

the next major fulfillment of Bible prophecy on the

horizon is the coming War of Gog and Magog.

It is during this war, that Russia will assemble a cadre

of anti-Israeli nations and invade the tiny country.

This incredible war is prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39:

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of

man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief

prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And

say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O

Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn

thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee

forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them

clothed with all sorts [of armour, even] a great company

[with] bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield

and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah

of the north quarters, and all his bands: [and] many people

with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and

all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a

guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited: in

the latter years thou shalt come into the land [that is]

brought back from the sword, [and is] gathered out of

many people, against the mountains of Israel, which

have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of

the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a

cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many

people with thee.

Ezekiel 38:1-9

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As I have mentioned many times, the war God is

speaking about here is preceded by something many

people have assumed could never happen in the Middle

East: PEACE.

Israel and its people—“all of them”—will be dwelling

safely after they are gathered out of the nations.

Partner, that “gathering out of the nations” started in

the early parts of the 20th century, and it is still going on

today, in fact it is increasing in intensity as more and more

Jews return to the land given by God to their ancestors.

Now, the next event is the PEACE that must first come

before the war of Gog and Magog can come.

Until November of 2001, when U. S. President George

W. Bush proclaimed his support for a Palestinian state,

peace seemed not only unlikely, but IMPOSSIBLE in the

Middle East, and particularly Israel.

Now, however, it not only seems possible, it seems

certain that peace will come to Israel and the region.

When that peace comes, many will proclaim it to be

the peace treaty signed by the antichrist—but it will

instead be the peace that is necessary for the war of Gog

and Magog to happen.

And that time, partner—the time that is SOON

COMING is the time that both Jews and Christians expect

to see the Messiah Come.

Because the war of Gog and Magog is believed by most

Christians to immediately precede the beginning of the

lesser tribulation, Christians look for the promised return

of Jesus during the period immediately preceding or

following the War of Gog and Magog.

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld,

he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

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From Now to the End

And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went

up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which

also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into

heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into

heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen

him go into heaven.

Acts 1:9-11

That blessed event is called the rapture, and whether it

precedes or follows the War of Gog and Magog, it is our

blessed hope and it is a SURETY that, no matter what its

timing is—IT WILL HAPPEN!

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we

which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall

not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall

descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the

archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ

shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be

caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord

in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore

comfort one another with these words. I Thessalonians 4:15-18

That blessed hope has been held dear to generations of

Christians since the first century A.D.; for nearly 2,000

YEARS!

But as the time approaches, the power of that prophecy

becomes ever more real!

But Christians are not the only ones looking for

Messiah to come during the period of time in which we

now find ourselves!

The Encyclopedia Judaica states this: “The war of Gog

and Magog will be the final war, after which there will be

no servitude, and it will presage the advent of the

Messiah.”

Jews believe that the Messiah will come immediately

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after the War of Gog and Magog. Though they believe He is

coming for the first time, and we believe He is coming for the

second time, the universal belief that He IS coming during

this time pervades both Christianity and Judaism.

After the return of Jesus, the world will enter into a time

of peace, war, death, famine, plague, and misery. The

antichrist, according to the prophet Daniel, will rise from

obscurity and become the world’s most powerful dictator,

though the people to whom he is dictating will not believe

they are oppressed.

And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom

they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall

come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from

before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the

covenant. And after the league [made] with him he shall work

deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong

with a small people.

Daniel 11:21-23

This antichrist will be literally a nobody from nowhere,

and he will obtain power not through military might, but by

deft politics and manipulation of both the system and the

people around him.

After he obtains power, the antichrist will use it to

increase his reach into neighboring nations, again not by

military might, but by working deceitfully, and using the

same methods he used to gain power, and become strong

with a very small group of supporters.

The antichrist's rise to power will be marked by his

signing a peace treaty with Israel, which will have won the

War of Gog and Magog by divine intervention of the

living God.

That seven-year peace will be signed by a man who

intends to dishonor it. When the treaty is signed, the three

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From Now to the End

and a half year period known as the “lesser tribulation”

begins, and the world enters into a time of death, famine,

economic tribulation and disease such as it has never

known before—but the world also sees the advent of a

powerful, awesome predominantly Jewish church that,

with 144,000 witnesses, preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ

to the world.

Meanwhile, the antichrist, who came to power in

peace, will be building a war machine unlike any the

world has ever seen.

Three and a half years into his seven-year peace with

Israel, he will invade Israel, breaking the treaty and

signaling the end of the “lesser tribulation” and the

beginning of the “great tribulation,” during which God’s

judgment rains out on the wickedness of mankind.

At the end of the “great tribulation,” the antichrist will

send out evil spirits to deceive the leaders of the world

into joining a massive battle against the living God. It is at

this battle that the Messiah will return, and with His saints

behind Him, will defeat the antichrist and the armies that

have assembled to support him.

Time will end; heaven and earth will pass away; and

God will create a new heavens and a new earth, with New

Jerusalem as its capital. God’s Presence will light the city

and His saints will live with Him forever.

Partner, this VERY SHORT and abridged view of the

end-times was given to give you a clear understanding of

the things God has ordained for the end-times so that,

when false prophets begin declaring, “here is Christ” or

“there is Christ,” you might know that they are false and

haven’t read the Scriptures.

When Christ returns, His church will know it, because

they—you and I—will be meeting with Him in the air!

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We don’t know when Jesus will return.

We believe He will return during this season—the very

times in which we find ourselves—but Jesus said that no

man knows the day nor the hour when He will return.

All we know is the season—this season.

I can’t tell you if He will return before or after the War

of Gog and Magog.

But I can tell you He WILL return.

And after that, the seeds we have planted in the world

—especially to the Jews—will take root and millions will

be saved and come to the Lord during the tribulation.

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CHAPTER 5

P

RAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM

5

One of the biggest sticking points in a potential

Palestinian state is Jerusalem.

What will become of the city of David, historical site of

the Temple of Israel to Jehovah, and the site of the third-

holiest spot in the Muslim religion?

Both religions revere the city, and neither religion is

willing to give up its claim that Jerusalem is its rightful

capital.

It seems that, just as peace is within grasp, the two

sides are at an impasse.

In December, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has

said he would agree to an independent Palestinian state if

Israel’s security was guaranteed; Israel radio reported.

Sharon—speaking to members of his right wing Likud

party—said he would personally lead any future peace

talks with the Palestinians.

A report published in London said Israel was about to

propose a peace plan to the United States.

Mr. Sharon said an eventual Palestinian state would be

demilitarized but would have a police force; Israel radio

reported.

But the peace hinged on future plans for Jerusalem.

The Palestinians have repeatedly stated they will not

settle for less than a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its

capital.

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The New Nation: Palestine

Israel has also indicated and explicitly stated that the

Jerusalem issue is not negotiable—Jerusalem is forever the

capital of Israel.

One plan has Jerusalem split into East and West

Jerusalem, much as Berlin was split after the second world

war.

It’s not clear which current plan—if any—will be

accepted and what will happen to Jerusalem.

What is clear is that the Jerusalem issue WILL be

settled; there will be peace in Israel before the War of Gog

and Magog can happen.

And as that peace comes, we can,

... look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption

draweth nigh.

Luke 21:28

Partner, that gives a new perspective to this verse:

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper

that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, [and] prosperity

within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I

will now say, Peace [be] within thee. Because of the house of

the LORD our God I will seek thy good.

Psalm 122:6-9

God’s admonition to us to pray for the peace of

Jerusalem takes on a new meaning—as we pray for the

Jerusalem issue to be resolved and for peace to finally

come to the mountaintop town of king David, we also

pray for the return of Christ, because we know that peace

must come before He does!

As we pray for the nation and the city, we pray for the

Lord who is God over them and the entire world! We are,

in effect, repeating the prayer of the Apostle John in the

book of Revelation:

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Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come

quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20

31

Document Outline

- The New Nation: Palestine

- Table of Contents

- 1 Israel—“A Cup of Trembling”

- 2 Can There Be Peace?

- 3 A Palestinian State

- 4 From Now to the End

- 5 Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

Table of Contents

Israel—“A Cup of Trembling”.

Can There Be Peace?.

A Palestinian State.

From Now to the End.

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.

The New Nation: Palestine

Table of Contents