THE SIGNS OF THE END

by Zola Levitt

The Signs of the End — The Millennium.

The Messiah’s own words of warning about the conditions that would prevail in the world at the end of God’s plan. Are we now approaching the Great Tribulation and the return of our King?

In this volume, Zola Levitt and Thomas S. McCall take up a crucial subject both from a Biblical perspective and from current events. Zola’s famous teachings from the prophetic word are enclosed in one volume with Tom’s concise analysis of the remarkable events of what could well be the final decade of the Church Age.

“All these are the beginning of sorrows” — Matthew 24:8

Copyright © 1978 by Zola Levitt. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-930749-95-5

Zola Levitt

Zola Levitt is a Jewish believer thoroughly educated in the synagogues and brought to the Messiah in 1971. He holds degrees from Duquesne University, Indiana University and an honorary Th.D. from Faith Bible College. He has, in his Christian walk, addressed millions of people concerning the facts of the Bible through his national television program, ZOLA LEVITT PRESENTS, which is carried on the major Christian networks, CBN, PTL, TBN and LBN, and numerous large city broadcast stations.

Zola has guided more than 60 tours to Israel, Greece, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt. He is considered an expert on Biblical sites in those lands.

Zola Levitt Ministries, Inc. is a teaching and evangelistic association guided by the standard of Rom. 1:16, “To the Jew first, and also to the gentile.” Like the apostle Paul, we work through the Gentiles to reach the Jews. We inform our gentile viewers and listeners of those principles of the faith which will be most helpful to them in understanding and witnessing to their Jewish friends. Our ministry offers a wide variety of teaching materials including books, cassette tapes, music, video tapes, and some imported gift items from the Holy Land. A current list of these materials is available at no charge by writing to: ZOLA, PO Box 12268, Dallas TX 75225. Or visit www.levitt.com for more information.

Table of Contents

Signs of the End

I. Jesus’ Words

II. The Rapture

III. The Antichrist

Israel Update for 90s

I. Prophecy Update

II. Archaeological Discoveries

III. Revival of the Israeli Church

Signs of the End, The New Millennium

Epilogue: Piecing Together the Prophetic Puzzle

I.

Jesus’ Words

In the several lengthy discourses of our Lord in the Gospel of Matthew, none seem to reach the level of clarity, immediacy and force of the prophecy of the Olivet discourse. The pristine moral lessons of the Sermon on the Mount, and the poetic illustrations of the parables of Chapter 13, show the eloquence and the keen perceptions of our Lord regarding the human condition. But here, in His prophecies, we are struck by the urgency of the message.

Clearly, the disciples were moved, as we still are today, by the vivid descriptions of the Lord of the signs of His coming and of the end of the world.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

To set the scene of Matthew 24, Jesus and the disciples are just departing from the Temple following His stunning lament, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…” (23:37). The Lord had seemed to imply that the Temple of God would be destroyed (23:38). The disciples, as well as the crowd, must have been dumbfounded at this horrifying implication. Only once before in history had the great Temple of Jerusalem fallen, and that was, of course, in the times of the terrible Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Surely, this mild mannered Preacher of Galilee did not intend to condemn the very House of God! Surely, He had been carried away in a metaphor!

But in the first two verses of Chapter 24, the Lord makes it more than clear to His disciples that the days of the Temple of God were numbered. “There shall not be left here one stone upon another …,” the Lord reiterated in the clearest terms as He and His men departed the Temple mount.

When they arrived at the Mount of Olives, where the Lord normally preferred to spend His nights while teaching in the Temple, the disciples “came unto Him privately,” apparently intending to seize the moment. If the Lord were waxing prophetic, they had some very important questions on their minds. And, as a matter of fact, they put three questions to Jesus at this point:

“And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matt 24:3).

Possibly they expected the Lord to answer in highly symbolic terms or to give replies of such profundity that they would still be left wondering. But, on this occasion, Jesus chose to answer at least two of the questions with utmost clarity and precision.

Their first question is not answerable by the Lord (see v. 36), but He more than obliges them on the signs of His coming and of the end of the world. From verse 4 to 28, the Lord gives general characteristics of the end of the age, and then He continues with the signs of His coming along with several illustrations addressed to the faithful.

It is most fascinating to consider that not a single sign given by the Lord in this entire discourse is in any way unfamiliar to our own generations today. Certainly, we have seen many come in His name, saying “I am Christ” (v. 5). We have heard of the wars and rumors of wars. We have seen nation rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. We have seen the famines, pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places (v. 6–7).

It might be argued that the Lord was simply characterizing the unspiritual nature of man as it always had been and even was in His own day. But, clearly, our generation has some very good arguments as being either the very one to see the most emphatic of these signs, or one quite close to the end.

There have been false prophets throughout the ages, of course, before Christ and after Him. But few could utter with any meaning, “I am Christ.” Few men could have said, “I am the Anointed One, the Saviour of the world,” and have been prepared to deliver on that. However, in this day and time, we are seeing such phrases uttered by “christs” from all over. Rev. Moon is the Messiah and intends to save the world and bring in the Kingdom of God. Maharaj Ji calls himself “The Perfect Messiah” and dispenses the “Divine Light;” he, too, intends to save the world. The guru of Transcendental Meditation has solutions to world problems on the international level, as does the guru of the Hare Krishna movement. UFO cultists claim world saviours to descend from outer space, and Satanists describe a coming age of new world enlightenment via their peculiar spiritism. Broadway recently promised a new “Age of Aquarius,” which is in effect a world salvation and a new order of things. The world will at least be more fun, according to this optimistic philosophy.

Our age is the one with communications media, the interest in the bizarre, and the desperation of the world at large to provide a listening audience to these various false christs. They are more than false prophets, of course, to whom the Lord will refer further on in the chapter.

And just as emphatically, our wars and rumors of wars, our nations rising against nations, and our famines, pestilences and earthquakes, exceed those of the past. And curiously, this should not be. After all, we are the most technologically advanced people who ever operated the earth. Why should there be famine now, when we have seemed to reach a peak of agricultural productions and economic organization? Why should we suffer pestilence in an age when medical science has advanced the life span of man to more than double what it was in the time of Christ? It is a fact that we are experiencing more earthquakes in this generation than we did in the two or three before when earthquakes were carefully tabulated and codified; but why?

Students who take the Lord at His word tend to take the “signs” of Matthew 24 very seriously in these modern times.

Verse 8 is one of the saddest in all the Gospels. “All these are the beginning of sorrows,” the Lord tells the already stricken disciples. If they were listening at all, they must have been in deep lament over what the Lord was plainly stating about the conditions of the world at the end — and yet now He pauses to say that worse is yet to come.

Indeed the Lord now indicates that the believers will be delivered up to be afflicted and killed. Biblical analysts tend to apply Scriptures like verse 9 in several ways. Is the Lord talking to His disciples as Christian believers, as Jews, or as Israelites? They qualify as all three, of course, but there would be an important difference of application to modern men. In truth, this verse and all the others in this chapter may be reasonably taken in all of those ways. The Gospel makes no difference between Jews and Gentiles who are in Christ. If we regard the disciples as Christian believers, we can see the affliction going on in today’s world. The Russians persecute the Christian Church. In Mozambique it has been proposed as federal law that Christianity be outlawed (the first such case of Christianity being made literally illegal). Christians have most certainly been killed for their faith throughout the age of the Church. If the disciples are being spoken to simply as Jewish people, the prophecy of affliction and murder equally applies. And finally, if they are being regarded by the Lord as Israelites — simply citizens of the Promised Land — then clearly the horror of being “hated of all nations” again equally applies. We should realize that we are looking in on the King of the Jews talking to His subjects. The words of the Lord to believing and unbelieving Israel have application to us all, as believers or unbelievers, when we read the Gospel.

The Lord’s continuing talk of many being offended (“and shall betray one another shall hate one another”) seems again to describe our present age, or one yet to come where these unfortunate prophecies are still more intensified. The alienation of our young people and the general description of our culture as a “big rip-off” indicates that human relations today might well be described in the Lord’s very words.

In verse 11, the Lord certifies the false prophets that shall arise, and here we have something different than those who say, “I am Christ.” A false prophet would be someone more like Jeanne Dixon, the wizards and palm readers who haunt our avenues, or those who make up astrological forecasts for a fee. Again, we have always had false prophets, but the point may be fairly taken that our generation is seeing a great upsurge in this occult activity.

Verse 12 might refer to our pornography or divorce statistics; “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” It can certainly be fairly argued that human society has never before seen so much divorce — never has the love of many waxed so cold. And our media, again, have been utilized to enhance an obscene culture which cheapens and makes synthetic God’s purest intentions for human love.

“But he that shall endure unto the land, the same shall be saved.” Some have utilized this remark to indicate that a certain level of purity must be maintained on the part of the saints in order to preserve their own salvation throughout the times of these evil signs. But again if we’ll apply the rule of the King of the Jews instructing His subjects, we will see that the verse applies appropriately to unredeemed Israel. Those Jews who endure entirely until the return of the Lord — who simply survive in whatever spiritual condition — will be those who “look upon Him whom they have pierced” (Zech 12:10), and “mourn for Him as for an only son” (Zech 12:10). The net result of this atonement of the part of surviving Israel is found in Paul’s exaltation in Romans 11:26:

“And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”

The fact that the Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, “unto all nations” (v. 14), before the Lord returns gives us pause. Surely we have not preached the Gospel throughout all of the world at this point, nor shall we in the very near future. The Wycliffe Bible translators, who really do go to the uttermost parts of the earth, estimate that they have some 2,000 languages left to learn if they are to truly translate the New Testament into all the world’s tongues! There are obviously vast groups of mankind who have never heard the Gospel, due to circumstances or lack of industry by the Church. Certainly the multitudes of Communist China and Russia, the bushman and islanders of the world, and the Jews of every nation have been largely omitted by Christian witnesses. Some missions make some efforts, of course, but it is hard to say just how much effort will satisfy the Lord’s designation of “all the world” (v. 14). The Lord interestingly ties this sign to the very end, continuing in the same breath “and then the end shall come.” It would seem, as Christians have felt for centuries, that if we would make certain that the Gospel were heard throughout the world, the Lord would be satisfied with the extent of our testimony and would draw this age to a close.

In verse 15, a new thought enters the Lord’s discourse and a set of specific instructions follows. Verse 15 and 16 are worthy of careful study:

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (“whoso readeth, let him understand;) Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.” (Italics added)

Daniel spoke of this “abomination of desolation” in Daniel 9:27, in reference to the Antichrist. Prophecy analysts connect this reference to the entry of the Antichrist into the rebuilt Temple of God in Jerusalem, as outlined by Paul in II Thess. 2:3, 4. Obviously, the incredible trespass of the Antichrist into the central shrine of world Judaism will cause an emergency situation in Israel. The Lord hardly understates the matter in His dramatic warnings:

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matt. 24: 21, 22).

The Lord’s term, “great tribulation,” has thus been applied to the time just preceding the second coming. Apparently the evil in the world and the oppression of Israel will have reached a maximum, so that “there shall be no flesh be saved.” This reference must certainly be to Armageddon, that last final calamity of mankind and the world as we now know it, when the very threat of the annihilation of the human race looms possible. The Lord plainly indicates that “those days shall be shortened” or there would simply be nothing left of mankind.

And now, beginning with verse 24, the Lord reviews once again the vital point that “there shall arise false Christs and false prophets” as if to underline the importance of salvation by the authentic Saviour only. At such times of panic as the Lord has described, we can well imagine many false deliverers coming forth with inadequate solutions to the global dilemma.

Finally, in verse 29, the Lord describes the signs of His coming. He has concluded His reply to the disciples’ question of the signs of the end of the world (or the end of the Church Age), and now moves on to describe His return in glory.

Verses 29 through 31 picture the celestial wonders, the mourning of all the tribes of the earth, angels with a great trumpet and the gathering together of the Lord’s elect “from one end of heaven to the other.” The tribes of the earth mourn at the return of the Lord, of course, because they have been up to the evil work which He has just described and were obviously caught unaware. They believed the false Christs and false prophets, or they were too busy at the bloody work of Armageddon to anticipate in faith the coming of the King.

“WATCH, THEREFORE”

The disciples must have been more than gratified as the Lord went on, because He far exceeded their original inquiries. Had He left off at verse 31 with the description of His coming, their questions would have been dealt with fully. But now the Lord amplifies His signs and warnings with decisive instructions to those who await His return. For the rest of chapter 24, and all of 25, the Lord presents definitive illustrations of behavior for the faithful and unmistakable characteristics of His return and the establishment of His Kingdom.

First, the Lord says, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree.” And in verses 32 to 35, He indicates the utter reliability of the signs and warnings He has given. As surely as summer follows the budding of the fig tree, the return of the Lord follows the illustration He has presented. This little parable must certainly have been effective on the agrarian society of ancient Israel, where the signs of nature guided those who tilled the land. The Lord concludes this little section with one of those statements that establish beyond all doubt what sort of authority He claims:

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35).

Now the Lord gives His illustration of “the days of Noah.” He indicates here the suddenness of His return as the fact that “of that day and hour knoweth no man.” Just as the people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, in the days of Noah, the Lord teaches, people will be carrying on business as usual when the calamities come and the King returns. The disciples are being warned, as Noah was warned, so that they might be ready (24:36–39).

Then the Lord takes just two verses to illustrate very plainly the selectivity by which He will establish the Kingdom. People working side by side in a field of at a mill will be divided: “The one shall be taken and the other left.” The Lord knows exactly who His sheep are.

Watchfulness is a theme of verses 42–44. The “goodman of the house” must be watchful for the thief. Here the Lord makes the statement that embraces all of His illustrations:

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (v. 44).

The next illustration involves the wise servant who is occupied with the Lord’s work at the time of the return of the King (v. 45–51). We are to be as faithful servants of the Lord, busy at our appointed tasks, when He comes:

“Blessed is the servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing” (v. 46).

As chapter 25 begins, the Lord continues with His exhaustive illustrations of the characteristics of the believers. The chapter is divided into three major sections: There is first the parable of the ten virgins, demonstrating readiness to receive the Lord; then the parable of the talents, demonstrating resourcefulness with the gifts given by the Lord; and finally the acts of faith which mark out the true believers in the Lord at the time of His coming.

The parable of the ten virgins (v. 1–13) has been applied variously by commentators and is somewhat cryptic. But a knowledge of the wedding customs in Israel at the time of Jesus makes the matter much more clear. Those with oil in their lamps go with the Lord, and those who have no oil must remain. The wedding customs of Israel are described more fully in A Christian Love Story, another book in this series, but suffice it here to say that the mark of a faithful Jewish bride was her oil lamp — trimmed and ready to use. Once a marriage contract was established, the bridegroom would leave his bride and return this his father’s house (saying, “I go to prepare a place for you;” John 14:1–3). The groom would remain at his father’s house, building a little mansion for the upcoming “honeymoon;” in effect, a bridal chamber. The bridesmaids who wanted to attend the wedding were obliged to wait for his return. As he tended to come at midnight (to purposely surprise them and see if they were really ready), the oil lamp was essential. One would not have attempted to walk the rocky hills and fields of ancient Israel without a lantern at midnight. Thus the point is clear: Those who really expect the return of the bridegroom are ready to travel, and those who feel he isn’t really coming may have a lamp just for the sake of tradition, but no oil. They do not think they will be obliged to light that lamp and suddenly go with their bridegroom, and so, when they finally try to buy oil and join the wedding party, they are too late:

“And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord open to us.

But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not” (Matt. 25:10–12).

We might point out that all of the Lord’s illustrations in this section continually demonstrate the same characteristics of distinction between believer and unbeliever. The virgins without the oil are not really ready for the return of the bridegroom. The unwise servant, who does not really expect his master, is busy at a drunken party when the Lord comes (v. 48–49). The goodman of the house allows the thief to enter since he did not really believe anyone would come. The workers in the field and the grinding mill are of different beliefs regarding the Lord, even though they work side by side. The unbelievers who go on as usual “as in the days of Noah” do not foresee a coming judgment, and finally the planting season sneaks up on the farmer who fails to watch the blossoming of the fig tree.

Clearly the Lord leaves no room for error. In parable after parable, He insinuates the lesson of watchfulness.

Now we come to the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14–30), in which a traveling man entrusts his servants with various amounts of money to utilize during his absence. When he returns, he finds different levels of resourcefulness among his associates. Two of the servants have managed to earn interest on the funds they were entrusted with (v. 20; v. 22), and the Lord commends them:

“His lord said unto them, Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (v. 23).

The third servant was far too conservative, arguing that his master is “an hard man.” He hid the money in the earth and earned nothing with it. The master is not impressed. He orders the money taken from this servant and given to the one which earned the most (v. 28). And then comes the Lord’s difficult pronouncement:

“For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath” (v. 29).

Obviously, the point being made is that we all have gifts and the interest we are able to earn on them, by dint of effort (good works, salvation, the spreading of the Gospel) will be considered by the Lord. There are those, we gather, with an empty faith, just as there were virgins with empty lamps. They have earned the Lord nothing (hid their light under a basket, to use another of the Lord’s images) and their master is not pleased. The Lord concludes this parable quite frankly: “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 30).

And now the Lord proceeds by delineating certain acts of faith by which He will judge the nations when he returns.

The scene is set as a huge court of inquiry, when all the nations will gather before the Lord and He will separate His followers from the unbelievers and mere professors of faith:

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (v. 31–32).

The Lord will stipulate certain acts of faith by which the righteous shall justify their faith in the Gospel:

“For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me” (v. 35–36).

It will be found that some of those present demonstrated these virtues because of their faith in the Lord’s teachings, and some did not:

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (v. 40).

“Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me” (v. 45).

And the Lord concludes this final lesson on the signs of His coming and the end of the world with one awesome statement:

“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (v. 46).

“LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU”

To review the vitally important chapters Matthew 24 and 25, then, we see the Lord responding in very exacting terms to His disciples’ questions. He gives clear prophecies, and parables to illustrate the prophecies, as well as a host of objective facts to be taken as words to the wise.

The section began with the Lord’s horrifying prophecy about the destruction of the Temple, and then the disciples’ questions as they took quick advantage of what appeared to be His prophetic mood of the time. The disciples’ three questions are questions we all have, undoubtedly, and the Lord dealt with two of them very fully. He was not able to tell them the time of his coming, but He certainly gave them the signs of His coming and of the end of the world.

The major theme of the signs is “Let no man deceive you.” There will be troubled time just preceding the return of the King, and false prophets and false christs will go about deceiving many.

The ultimate signs of the Lord’s coming will be wonders in the heavens, the mourning of the nations of the earth and the gathering together of the Lord’s elect.

The stories of the fig tree, the days of Noah, the ten virgins and so forth which follow, each illustrate a principle about the return of the Lord. We have seen that the parables teach that the Lord’s signs are reliable, that the return comes suddenly, that the Lord shall select out His believers, that we must be watchful, occupied with His work, resourceful with our gifts and always ready to perform those acts of faith appropriate to the Gospel.

The Olivet discourse, addressed to Israel but having manifest application to the Church as well, is one of those Gospel passages which has taken on more and more urgency as time goes on.

The ultimate verse to remember:

“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matt. 25:13).

II.

The Rapture

The Rapture of the Church is our reward for faithfulness. It is almost the whole point of Christianity, representing our deliverance into eternal life. What we have here on earth at this time is so terribly pale in comparison to that which is promised to us.

Our lives now are not superior to the existence of the unbeliever and are made even more complicated by the cross we bear. True we have our spiritual fellowship here on earth and with other believers, and we take great satisfaction in our service of the Lord. But all this is a mere shadow of the magnificent things to come. We suffer now a very real degree, but all that will change now with the coming of our King.

There is quite a bit of confusion as to the Rapture of the Church. The non-biblical churches are not counting on it and simply think it won’t happen. Those who study the Bible are somewhat divided in their view of just when the Lord will come back for the Church, and everyone wonders in his private heart whether he really will be included.

Such differences are natural among people living in the world, and we cannot put them entirely to rest in this short space. But we can give the Scriptures that highlight the coming of the Lord, and a reasonable argument for the time of His coming, relative to the prophetic schedule of events.

“I WILL COME AGAIN”

First of all, we should put to rest the notion that the Lord has finished His work with the Church and that we will not be seeing Him again. This is simply not Christianity.

On a very critical night the Lord Himself made the following promise:

“Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1–3).

We should appreciate that the disciples were very nervous that night. Their leader had indicated that He was soon to leave them (John 12:23). What were they to do? After all, they were not spiritual giants, and without the remarkable Carpenter of Galilee walking before them, they felt they had little power. We can tell by various responses among the disciples that they were truly losing their grip.

Before that night was over, Peter was to deny that he even knew the Lord three times over, in accordance with Jesus’ own words. Judas, of course, sold Him out altogether. Thomas was not to believe the resurrection until he would place his fingers in the Lord’s wounds, and Philip had the audacity to say, “Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us,” (John 14:8). This last request shows the true panic among the disciples. What the faithful Noah had not seen, what Abraham had not seen, what the mighty kings David and Solomon had never seen, the Lord was to produce in that upper room. Philip felt that Almighty God should make an appearance to calm the fears of the fisherman and tax collectors of rustic Galilee.

Thus it was that the Lord made His important promise at a crucial moment. He would be coming back, He said. And further, He would not leave them leaderless:

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:16–18).

After His resurrection the Lord continued to teach the disciples “the things pertaining to the kingdom of God,” (Acts 1:3). The disciples were still pressing Him to reveal the time of His return and the setting up of the promised kingdom on the earth:

“When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel?” (Acts 1:6)

But the Lord demurred as to the time of His return, instead giving the disciples some rather prodigious instructions:

“And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the time or seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power, but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:7–8).

And now came one of the most stupendous moments in all Scripture as the Lord ascended to His Father. The disciples were still mulling over the tremendous assignment He had just uttered. They were to receive the Holy Spirit and somehow take the doctrine of Jesus Christ not just to Israel, which He had indicated previously (Matthew 10:5–6), but all over the world. And now as they stood dumbfounded, their Master went up into Heaven:

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9).

The Father seemed to realize what the reaction would be to this incredible ascension of the Lord, and He sent angels to tell the disciples an important message:

“And while they looked steadfastly 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 1:10–11).

The verse above gives an important detail concerning the Rapture of the Church. The Lord will indeed descend from heaven, as we shall see presently, in His return for the believers.

It should be appreciated that many false doctrines about the Messiah are being taught today. The Lord is said to be among us now in some guise (The Unification Church), or that He will alight from a UFO, or that He is within us all and is not going to make an actual, physical return (universalist churches and all those denominations that have thrown their Bibles away). But the angels have clearly specified in the passage above that the Lord will come back from heaven in just the manner that the men of Galilee saw Him go into heaven. Corroborating that miracle Paul wrote the following:

“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” (I Thess. 4:16–17).

This is the ultimate proof text, the clearest announcement of the Rapture of the Church to be found in the Bible. The very word Rapture is taken from the expression “caught up,” “rapture” being a cognitive of the Latin for “caught up.” We learn in the above Scripture that one does not have to be living at the time of the return of the Lord to go in the Rapture. In fact, “the dead in Christ will rise first.” Obviously, believers, dating from the time of the cross, will be translated to heaven just as the Lord Himself was. All believers of the Church Age are to be resurrected to a heavenly meeting with the Lord.

We learn more of this Christian hope from Paul’s writing in I Corinthians 15. Paul indicates that the resurrection of Christ entitles us all to an equal resurrection, “every man in his own order:”

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (I Cor. 15:20–23).

The ideal of every man ascending in his own order certainly dovetails with the fact that the dead in Christ shall rise first. Christ, “the firstfruits,” was the first man permanently resurrected, and we shall all follow in the order in which we came to faith in Him.

Obviously, we cannot arrive in heaven in exactly the form we are in this earthly life. Paul goes on to explain that we will undergo miraculous changes:

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (I Cor. 15:51–53).

The author once saw the first verse above displayed on the door of a church nursery.

Our corruptible flesh will be outfitted for eternal life when we are taken in the Rapture. Our mortal bodies will become immortal and we are to live in the presence of the Lord forever. Paul went on to exult:

“O death, where is they sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (v.55)

BUT WHEN?

People have been guessing at the time of the Rapture virtually since the ascension of the Lord. Books come out all the time giving a date, and then going out of print when the author’s theory is not fulfilled.

The Lord, however, made it very plain that the Bride was not to know the date of the wedding. That was Israeli tradition. The bridegroom would call for her by surprise, (see, A Christian Love Story, another book in this series). After all, this would spoil the idea of faith in things not seen. If we knew the exact date of the Rapture, we would all be packed and ready to go. That’s hardly the Christian ideal of faithful waiting upon the Lord and trust in His soon coming. We would not be showing true faith if we merely checked off a date on our calendars and maintained a suitable testimony to that point.

But theologians have tried to relate the Rapture to Tribulation period events (explained in the previous chapter), and this exercise is hopeless. It’s true that there are many easily marked events in the seven-year period of tribulation. But none of these are biblically related to the Rapture of the Church. Nothing in prophecy has to happen before the Rapture.

The author supports the pre-tribulation Rapture position where the Lord might come for the Church at any moment, even before you finish reading this paragraph.

The most obvious evidence for the pre-tribulation Rapture is the concept of surprise. The Lord will come for His own “in the twinkling of an eye.” We are to be ready at all times, since we cannot know the exact moment of the Rapture. Obviously, however, if the Rapture is related to some Tribulation-period event — the appearance of the Antichrist, his blasphemy in the Temple of God, Armageddon, etc. — then we would “schedule” the Lord’s return. We would therefore be setting a date and making nonsense of the Lord’s steady admonishment, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power,” (Acts 1:7). If we are to be truly surprised by the Rapture, it must come before any other identifiable earthly event.

Secondly, it is seen in the Scriptures that the Rapture is the reward of the Church for its belief in the Messiah. If the Church were to wait through the Tribulation period for the return of the Lord, then our outcome would be no better than that of the unbelieving world. We would suffer under the Antichrist just as those who reject Christ suffer. However, Paul indicates that the Antichrist will appear “that they (the world) might be judged… but God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation” (see II Thess. 2:9–13). If the world and the Church are to be treated the same, then the New Testament doesn’t make much sense and there is no reward for faith. However, the Lord Himself said:

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3:10).

And further, we see in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the world before the coming of the Antichrist:

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” (II Thess. 2:7–8).

In this passage “he who now letteth” (restrains or hinders) is the Holy Spirit. It is obviously seen that if the Church were active in the world the Antichrist would hardly get his devilish work started. We can imagine some world dictator trying to come on the scene — making a seven-year peace treaty with Israel (Daniel 9:27) — while the Church, millions strong, in almost every nation, simply stood by. Such a case is unthinkable. If the Antichrist now revealed himself in the United States, for example, the huge community of born-again believers would be shouting in the streets. It just wouldn’t work; that Wicked One would have a lot of trouble even getting started. Yet we see in the Scriptures that the Antichrist experiences little opposition in setting up his disastrous reign, and thus it’s clear that the Church has departed before he is revealed. The Church, of course, is the home of the Holy Spirit on earth who indwells every believer. The Antichrist will have clear sailing when he comes because the Holy Spirit (“he who now letteth”) and the Church have gone on to heaven.

The order of the Jewish feasts reveals in symbol that the coming of the Lord for the Church directly follows the last great event of the Church Age, Pentecost. The feasts are given in Leviticus 23, and the Lord has thus far fulfilled them all appropriately and on schedule. He was crucified on Passover, buried on Unleavened Bread, raised on Firstfruits, and He sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The next feast is most suggestive of the Rapture — the Feast of the Trumpets. It has never been fulfilled with so momentous an event as those which have gone before, and so we await this inevitable fulfillment by the Rapture of the Church.

Finally, as we mentioned above, no prophetic event has to precede the Rapture. It was regarded as an imminent possibility nearly 2,000 years ago. Paul was waiting for the return of the Lord, even advising single people that they might well not think about marriage because the Rapture would certainly change that status anyway (I Cor. 7:29). Titus 2:3 exhorts us to be constantly “looking for that blessed hope.” If the Rapture of the Church were to follow the tribulation period, or occur somewhere within it, the apostles were greatly misinformed to be expecting it back then. But actually, considering the pre-tribulation view, they were preaching the best of all possible courses — we are to be in readiness at all times for the return of the Lord.

“ONLY BELIEVE”

In view of the advanced paganism of these times, the presence of so much false religion, and the disheartening falling away of so many formerly Christian denominations, it is a good feeling to know that the Lord is indeed coming, and coming at any moment. The spiritual poverty of those who have put the Bible away and made their own assumptions about the actions of Jesus Christ is overwhelming. There are huge churches preaching social doctrines — as though good behavior would take one to heaven, and that the idea of Christianity was to be better than the next fellow. It is unfortunately specified in Scripture that those not waiting for the Lord and not occupied with His true work simply will not go with Him. The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1–13 is a clear illustration. Some who constantly cry “Lord, Lord” will not in fact join the Lord at all if the Scriptures are to be believed.

As to the rest of us, our great hope day by day, hour by hour, prayer by prayer, work by work, is in His early coming.

Maranatha!

III.

The Antichrist

The first thing that should be said about the Antichrist is that we don’t know who he is. And that’s the end of that.

Many prophecy writers, the author included, have surmised that he is alive today, and there is justification for this. But this should not lead the Body of Christ into guessing games as to his identity. We are not the first people in history to try to select the Antichrist from our midst, of course. The process has been going on since the first century when certain Roman emperors were cited. From the Caesars, through the Popes, through Napoleon and the 19th century dictators, and up to the present (Henry Kissinger, Nelson Rockefeller, etc.) the finger-pointing has gone on.

It should certainly be said that there is no more serious case of judging than this. To call a man the Antichrist is to say that he is in a league with the devil — or more so, to say that he is the devil’s key man! We are not to judge even our neighbors (Matthew 7:11), and so we should certainly refrain from making public identifications of the Antichrist.

Probably the best theory of recent years involved Adolf Hitler, and due to the Spring 1978 television series, THE HOLOCAUST, people have been comparing that awful tragedy with the coming Tribulation period. There was much justification for identifying Hitler with the coming world dictator on the face of it. But, of course, it should serve as an admonition to us that he did not after all turn out to be the one we were looking for.

THE HOLOCAUST

The Holocaust did serve as a kind of presage of the Tribulation period, it is fair to say. Hitler’s reign of terror lasted approximately seven years (though he came to power earlier than the actual beginning of the persecutions). Hitler’s personality seemed somewhat like that of the Antichrist, if we look at the biblical descriptions. Hitler was considered a kind of miracle-worker, having virtually supernatural powers and being widely worshipped by a cult of misguided agnostics. In a sense Hitler would have been the Antichrist if he could. He certainly set out to do all that the Antichrist will do — control the world, dictate to all peoples, and massacre the Jews. He had an Antichrist egomania, thinking of himself as some sort of maker of destiny and international savior.

But there the comparison ends, because the coming holocaust — the Tribulation period — will bring the world more agony, more bloodshed, and more pillage than even World War II in Europe. And while Hitler seemed to do his all to equal the heinous deeds of the Antichrist to come, he stopped short of calling himself Almighty God.

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE GOD

The key feature of the Antichrist will be his incredible blasphemy that we spoke of above in discussing Matthew 24:15. The Antichrist will declare himself to be the God of Heaven (II Thess. 2:3–4). He will thus be a kind of madman, at least at the peak of his power.

But at the beginning he will apparently be welcomed as a political leader of great skill and a peacemaker. The true clue to his identity will be his seven-year peace plan for the protection of Israel:

“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Daniel 9:27).

In Daniel’s parlance a “week” is equal to seven years (see Satan in the Sanctuary, by Dr. Thomas S. McCall and the author).

And the Antichrist will come forward with this improved idea to settle what will apparently be a problem of international importance in the Middle East. (Obviously, we have such a problem on our hands today, and we couldn’t have said that even ten years ago.)

The Antichrist will apparently be European, coming out of a revisited Roman Empire. Daniel identifies Rome, his “fourth kingdom” (Daniel 7:23–24), and thus people have been looking for a power conglomerate to rise out of Europe. Further, the description of the Antichrist in Revelation 13:1–8 concurs with the book of Daniel in describing a beast with ten heads. Thus we come to something like a ten-nation confederacy in Europe and the Mediterranean area; and many analysts have pointed to the Common Market as that very confederacy.

The Antichrist will survive, or be resurrected from, a fatal wound (Rev. 13:13–14), thus counterfeiting the resurrection of our Lord. People have therefore considered such personalities as John F. Kennedy or perhaps Richard Nixon coming miraculously back to power as the Antichrist. What is very clear is that Satan is behind the supernatural power of this remarkable dictator.

“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Rev. 13:4)

With the backing of the dragon, the Antichrist will establish his personality cult, demanding the worship of the entire human race. Revelation 13:8 specifies that everyone on earth will worship the Antichrist with the exception of those who come to Christ during the Tribulation period. The “false prophet” explained in Revelation 16:13 will be the Antichrist’s “John the Baptist.” He will be a kind of promotion man for the Antichrist, working miracles of his own and deceiving the millions into following Satan.

His economic program will be successful for a time — at least while he keeps the peace. Every person on the earth will have to participate by bearing a number on his right hand or forehead, the number 666. And without this mysterious mark the individual will not be permitted to buy or sell anything (Rev. 13:16–18). We are already seeing buying and selling by number, of course, with credit cards and the like. Recently the process of marketing merchandise with a code to be read by a computer has come into practice. It’s only one more step to “marking” the individual doing the buying.

With his blasphemy in the Temple of God, the Antichrist will have gone a step too far. While he may estimate that he has a total world control and that he can, like Hitler, exterminate the Jews (who never bow to dictators), he will have confronted the Power behind the Jews. The God of Israel will not see His House desecrated. And from the point when the Antichrist enters the Temple, the world will absolutely go crazy.

The Jews will “flee unto the hills of Judea” if they take the advice of the Messiah, and the rest of the world will begin to mobilize for Armageddon. Revelation 16:13, 14, and 16 shows the mobilization of the armies of the world for a war that will make all before it pale by comparison. The Lord Himself, with His heavenly army, will attend that final battle in that rustic level plane in Israel called Armageddon, and it will be the end of the Antichrist:

“And the beast was taken, and with the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Rev. 10–20).

THE SPIRIT OF THE ANTICHRIST

It is beyond the scope of this little book to give all the facts about the Antichrist, and it’s not a very happy topic. In any case it is more important that we attend to what Scriptures call “the spirit of the Antichrist.”

It is not so vital the Church pick out the very personality who will be the Antichrist. We cannot prevent his reign since “it is written.” And we really can do little to inform the unbelieving world of the bad ends to come — no more than we could warn a committed Nazi about Hitler’s ultimate atrocity. But we can certainly understand the spirit of the Antichrist and recognize it about us; and we can point these important Scriptures out to those unbelievers open-minded enough to see the false spirits for what they really are.

Consider the opening of 1 John 4:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (v. 1–3).

John was saying nearly two thousand years ago that the spirit of the Antichrist was very much alive and active in the world. To take him at his word, everyone that does not follow Jesus Christ is to some degree an antichrist. The Lord Himself lamented that those who were not with Him were against Him, and that it just how things are with the Son of God. One either believes or doesn’t believe. And the unbeliever represents to us the very spirit of the Antichrist:

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (1 John 2:18).

This is the “last time” indeed. John did not foresee the many centuries to come, as the spirit of the Antichrist grew more and more intense in the world. In a sense we’re in a better position than the apostle to realize the nearly total triumph of evil among the unbelievers. There are antichrists on every side of us today in a very real way, and with the perspective of the ages we can see that things are only growing worse.

The fantastic deception of our society — the “rip-off” system under which we live — has people completely enslaved. The government lies, advertising lies, and a large part of the professing Church lies. Deception will be the trademark of the Antichrist; and insofar as deception rules this world, the time of the Antichrist is nearer:

“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (II John 7).

Our admonition in the Scriptures is not so much to look for the Antichrist — to read the papers and try to pick out a personality — but to look to ourselves. We must always take every precaution not to be deceived. We must be especially wary in this time of near-total deception:

“Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we wrought, but that we receive a full reward” (II John 8).

And the apostle has made very clear the difference between one who believes and who follows the spirit of the Antichrist:

“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (II John 9).

It is as if we are choosing up sides for a cosmic game. Satan is making ready with the star of his team — the Antichrist. It is not so important that we find out just who Satan has in mind as it is for us to support our own team and play well. We even have a chance as things progress to bring members of the opposition over to our team, and that is what we should be doing.

Do we really believe that there is a war going on between God and Satan at every moment for every soul?

Then, Godspeed!

ISRAEL UPDATE FOR ’93/’94

By Thomas S. McCall and Zola Levitt

In September of this year, the Zola Levitt Presents program, under the direction of our producer, Ken Berg, took its TV team to Israel once again, in order to record for our viewers the exciting events that are transpiring in the Promised Land and in Jerusalem, the city of the Great King.

We were not disappointed in the results. Just before we left the U.S., we were treated to the remarkable television spectacle of the signing of the Israel-PLO Agreement on the White House Lawn. For many months, we were told, the principals had been secretly meeting in a secluded “safe house” in Norway, hammering out this accord. It purported to allow autonomy for the Palestinians while at the same time assuring Israel of its much sought-after security.

Who would have thought, even a few days before, that we would have seen in our lifetime Prime Minister Rabin and Yasser Arafat on the same platform, signing an agreement, speaking of peace, and shaking hands with one another? Such is the world we are living in today, with momentous twists and turns occurring on the world scene, sometimes with very little warning.

Naturally, we were intrigued over the potential impact of the new peace treaty on Israel and the Middle East. Was it good or bad for Israel? How do the Jews and Arabs feel about it? How does such an accord relate to Biblical prophecy? All of these questions were coursing through our minds as we flew over the Atlantic, Europe and the Mediterranean on our mission to Israel.

When we got to Israel, we discovered there were important developments taking place in at least three areas of interest to our viewers: in the realm of Bible prophecy, in the ever-fascinating field of Bible archaeology, and in the ecclesiastical phenomenon of our century, the revival of the Israeli Church.

In this update in the TV programs, we will endeavor to inform you, our readers and viewers, about these significant things that are happening in our time, as we observed them in Israel, the center of the earth.

I.

Prophecy Update

Anything that happens in Israel these days must be scrutinized with regard to any connection it might have to the revelations of Bible prophecy, the end times and the Second Coming of Christ.

So it is with the new peace agreement which has recently been signed by Israel and the PLO. Is this significant from a Biblical perspective? If so, how?

In essence this is an agreement between Jews and Arabs, who are forced, by circumstances, to live together in a relatively small land, comparable in size to the state of New Jersey.

In many ways they are similar to each other, but in many ways they are very different. They both find their ancient ancestry in Abraham, one through Isaac, the other through Ishmael. They have had many conflicts throughout their 4,000 years of mutual history, but the tensions have been particularly intensified during this century, with the Zionist return of the Jewish people to the Land and the re-creation of the state of Israel.

The Palestinians, and their patrons in the large Arab nations throughout the Middle East, have bitterly contested what they consider the intrusion of the Jewish people into the land which they have occupied for many centuries. The Jewish people, on the other hand, believe that the same land is their ancestral and religious homeland from which they were forcibly driven 19 centuries ago. They are now returning, partly to escape the horrendous persecution they have continually faced in the lands of the Gentiles, and partly to fulfill their religious dream of a restored Jewish Israel. Four major wars and innumerable smaller conflicts have been waged in our lifetime over this intense territorial struggle.

For the most part, the Arabs have failed in their attempts to dislodge the Jews from Israel by means of military attacks. However, they have been somewhat more successful in their new strategy of the Intifada, a kind of internal protest movement. By this strategy, they have worn down the psychological stamina of many of the Israelis, and have captured the sympathy of the media and much of the Western World.

Outside of Israel, many conservative Jewish groups, and most evangelical Christian groups, have been supportive of Israel. They believe it to be the only dependable haven of the Jewish people and also the beginning of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, which predicts the ultimate restoration of Israel in the Land. The more liberal Jewish groups have urged the counsel of peace and conciliation with the Arabs upon their coreligionists in Israel, and the liberal Christian groups have found themselves actually on the side of the “underdog” Arabs and Palestinians, since they do not believe in any Biblical future for Israel.

Thus, in the public relations war, the Arabs and the Palestinians were actually winning the minds and hearts of the Western World. The U.N. in general, and the U.S. in particular, began to put pressure on Israel to settle its differences with the Arabs, even if it meant giving up strategic territory to do so. The Labor Party came to power in Israel, and they are much more amenable to conciliating the Arabs than the more conservative Likud Party.

With Western encouragement (or pressure) the Israelis and Arabs quickly went into negotiations, mostly in secret, and composed what came to be the heralded peace agreement. It was into this heady mix of euphoria and apprehension that we entered, as we made our way from Texas to Israel to uncover the Biblical and prophetic significance of the new accord.

ISRAEL-PLO PEACE AGREEMENT

It wasn’t until several days after the peace agreement was signed that the story was published that Rabin and Arafat had been working on this project for many months. Most of the world thought that the peace process which had begun last year in Madrid had more or less become stalemated. However, as it turns out, the diplomats of Norway intervened and offered their neutral country as the site for the deliberations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Representatives of the two groups, which were sworn enemies and which did not recognize each other officially, met for many months to work out the agreement.

Suddenly, and with considerable fanfare, the Clinton administration announced the agreement to the world, and with former Presidents Bush and Carter, members of Congress, and leaders of many nations in attendance, Rabin and Arafat signed the accord in the brilliant Washington, D.C. sunlight on the lawn of the White House. Exactly what was in this agreement, and what did it mean?

The contents of the peace agreement were not fully comprehended by the public immediately, and there are many parts of the accord that are intentionally vague or ambiguous. However, it is clear that a gradual, five-year process is intended. During this period the Arab communities in what is commonly called the “West Bank” will come under autonomous Arab control, and the Israeli army will withdraw from these same areas. That is the general framework, but there are many details of the process which are at best unclear.

Beginning with Jericho and Gaza

The first phase of the process begins with Israel turning over to the Arabs the cities of Jericho and Gaza, with their surrounding immediate territory. Arafat has virtually announced that he is the President of Palestine and will place his headquarters in Jericho.

In reality, the Israelis are just as happy to give up Gaza, with all its problems. As Abba Eban recently said in the U.S., Israel has accomplished a diplomatic coup by making the world think it has given something up by letting Gaza go. Nobody really wants Gaza. Egypt turned it down when it was working out its peace agreement with Israel, and Gaza has been a continual thorn in Israel’s side as a perpetual Arab slum and center of unrest on the Mediterranean coast south of Tel Aviv. If the Arabs can bring this area under productive control, the Israelis will be quite pleased.

But Jericho is another matter. While it is not a large city now, it is very strategic, much as it was in the time of Joshua some 3,400 years ago. Located in the deep Jordan valley about 20 miles from Jerusalem, it is situated on the border with the Kingdom of Jordan, and is close to the main crossing point, the Allenby Bridge. It has remained relatively peaceful, though, and apparently it was felt that this quiet area was a good starting point for the establishment of Palestinian autonomy.

The first step is for the Israeli army to withdraw from these two sites, as the Palestinians, under Arafat, go about setting up autonomous control of governmental administration, taxation and democratic elections. At least, that is the theory. Democracy is something the Arab people know very little about, historically, and time will tell how accurately these expectations actually come to pass.

Gradual Withdrawal of Israeli Army

The agreement then provides for the withdrawal of the Israeli Army from the areas where the Palestinians establish autonomy as it takes place, beginning in Gaza and Jericho. This may sound easier than it is. The so-called West Bank, or, as the Israelis prefer to call it by the biblical terms, Judea, Samaria and Gaza, is really a checkerboard of Jewish settlements interspersed among the Arab settlements. There are about as many Jewish settlements as there are Arab settlements. It is therefore difficult to withdraw security forces from one area without compromising the welfare of another.

Furthermore, there is quite a lot of coming and going throughout the West Bank by both the Israelis and Palestinians. Many cars and trucks pass along the roads between the various Jewish and Arab settlements. Who will patrol these roads and maintain their security as the Israeli Army withdraws? The Israeli government is saying they can work these problems out as they develop, but there is considerable and understandable concern about the solution of these serious practical problems.

“Give Peace a Chance”

The Israelis and the Palestinian Arabs are both highly divided about the wisdom, practicality and desirability of this peace agreement. The position of the ruling Labor Party government under Prime Minister Rabin and Foreign Secretary Peres is that at long last, they want to “give peace a chance,” a phrase often heard in public pronouncements. This sentiment was echoed by an Israeli guide who was a high-ranking officer in the Army during Israel’s major wars. He said, “We have been fighting with the Arabs almost every day for 100 years. The peace with Egypt is working all right; maybe this one with the Palestinians will work as well. Let’s give it a try.”

Many Israelis are truly exhausted with the constant state of war that has existed between them and the Arabs within and outside of Israel all these decades. They feel that it must not go on any longer. But they are just a bare majority. Prime Minister Rabin was able to muster only 61 votes in the Knessett to approve the peace plan, one more vote than half of the members, and it took considerable political maneuvering to get that. Not only are a large percentage of Israelis concerned about the situation on the West Bank, but they are just as worried, or more so, about the parallel and related position of the Golan Heights, which we will discuss further below.

The way the Rabin government is selling the peace agreement to the unconvinced Israelis is that we will give the Palestinians a chance to prove that they can govern themselves and maintain the peace. If they foul up, if they don’t keep their end of the bargain, if they continue to cause trouble, we will simply move them across the Jordan River. Futhermore, the government believes that if such a circumstance were to develop, world opinion would be with the Israelis, and there would be little sympathy for the Palestinians.

The Israelis who are not for the agreement are very wary of such a scenario, and feel it would be very difficult to reverse this process once it gets started, even if some Palestinians fail to hold up their end.

Israel Holds All the Cards

But, again, the Jewish government believes that it holds all the cards. The Israeli Army will be watching the developments with a careful eye. They will not allow the situation to get out of hand. They will control the sparsely settled areas between the settlements, and will not allow the Jewish settlements to be molested. The Israelis have all the heavy guns, tanks and so forth, while the Palestinians only have a few rifles and rocks. How can they be a threat to Israel’s security?

Furthermore, the government sees great potential in the agreement. If there is peace, there will be great opportunity for development and prosperity. The Israelis can help the Palestinians, and the other Arabs throughout the Middle East, with their water use and conservation projects, and there could be considerable opportunity for foreign investment to flood into the entire region.

REAL PROBLEMS

But with all the government’s assurances and rose-colored scenarios, there is much apprehension among a large percentage of the Jewish population of Israel. They don’t trust the Arabs; they don’t think the well-meaning Palestinians can control the fanatical Moslem terrorists; they believe they are unnecessarily exposing themselves to a disastrous strategic vulnerability; and that, if the peace does not work and they have to use force against the Palestinians, world opinion will not be sympathetic to Israel.

Fate of Jewish Settlements in West Bank (Judea, Samaria and Gaza)

The week we arrived in Israel was the week the Knessett (Parliament) voted on the peace agreement. In the days preceding that very close vote there was much political tension in the air, and many demonstrations. On one day there was a kind of huge prayer rally at the Western Wall. Thousands of Israelis gathered at the Wall in order to pray for the nation. They were also there to protest the peace agreement. It was quite a sight.

Later that same day, after dark, there was a huge rally in the rose garden area on the grounds of the Knesset. Depending on who was doing the reporting, it was estimated that there were between 50,000 and 100,000 Israelis there to voice their protest against the peace accord. There were many speeches by Likud Party leaders and other spokesmen decrying the various features of the agreement.

We were able to interview on video tape several people who attended the rally, and discovered that a great number of them were inhabitants of the Jewish settlements on the West Bank, or, as they prefer, the areas of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. There is an acronym for these areas, composed of the first letters of the Hebrew words for Judea, Samaria and Gaza. An actual organization named Yesha seeks to promote the causes and concerns of the Jewish people who live in and around these territories.

The Jewish settlers feel they are being abandoned and left exposed by the government. One should keep in mind that we are talking about when we speak of the settlements in Yesha. Those who have seen our TV programs about Israel have seen the Jewish settlements we have featured in several segments. These are not hovels nor trailer parks. These are well-ordered suburbs with fine suburban homes. They would fit very well indeed in many of the more desirable suburbs in the U.S. or Europe, and represent a considerable investment of time and resources. They are the homes of these people have established for their families over a period of 25 years.

One should also remember that almost every Israeli settlement in Yesha is in full view of an Arab settlement or town. The way things usually work is that the Israeli settlement is established on a hill and the Arab village is on an adjacent hill or in the valley below. This placement was chosen not just for convenience, but was purposely planned by the Israeli government for security purposes. With the Israeli Army patrolling the area, these numerous villages live side by side throughout Yesha in relative peace. But, if the Jewish army is removed, the Jewish inhabitants are afraid they will be sitting ducks for the fanatic Arab terrorists.

As we said, these Jewish settlements are suburbs, and most of the people who live in them commute to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv to work. The most distant settlement is less than one hour’s drive to work, and many are within a 30-minute drive. Israel is a small country. These suburbanites are very concerned about the roads that connect them to the major cities. Will they be attacked by terrorists when they go by the Arab villages or when they traverse the open countryside? Who will patrol these areas?

Will “President” Arafat protect the Jewish settlers?

Many expressed dismay about the situation, and felt they may eventually have to pull up stakes and move from their homes in order to have any security for their families.

Impact on Golan Heights

The Golan Heights were not part of the current peace agreement, but it is possible that the Israeli government is now working in secret on an agreement with Syria, just as it was with the Palestinians. Many Israelis are afraid that they may wake up one morning to discover an agreement has been concluded with Syria in which the Golan Heights has been surrendered in order to promote peace.

As we drove into Jerusalem, we were greeted with signs on many apartment buildings on the hillside urging support for “the people of Golan.” From 1948 to 1967, civilian Israelis were bombarded by the Syrians from the Golan Heights overlooking the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. There was much exposure to sniper fire and all kinds of harassment from those hills all during that time. When the Israelis took the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six Day War, they pushed the Syrian army back from the Sea of Galilee some 15 miles. Since then, except during the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the Syrian border has been one of the quietest borders Israel has. But Syria has maintained that it will never make peace with Israel as long as Israel has the Golan Heights.

Potential of Civil War (Arabs vs. Arabs, Jews vs. Jews, Arabs vs. Jews)

One of the most sobering sentiments we heard concerned the prospects for some kind of multifaceted civil war. For instance, there is the potential for trouble among the Arabs themselves. Undoubtedly, there are many Arab Palestinians who just want to live their lives in some semblance of peace and tranquility. They are perfectly willing to live with their Jewish neighbors in respectful harmony. But there are many others who believe they can be satisfied with nothing less than a Palestinian state that includes not only the West Bank, but also Jerusalem and all of what is now Israel. These fanatics regard those Arabs who cooperate with Israel as traitors. The week after the peace agreement was signed, the bloody Hamas movement claimed responsibility for killing an Arab leader in Gaza who was perceived as cooperating with Arafat, who was now cooperating with Israel.

Will this kind of hostility among the Arabs mushroom into fratricidal warfare? What will the fanatical regimes of Iraq and Iran do to fan the flames of antagonism among the Palestinians? How would the stability of Israel be affected if the Palestinian Arabs went after one another in a wholesale slaughter? But it might also be possible for the Jewish people to turn upon one another under certain circumstances. What if the Jewish settlements in Yesha are indeed abandoned, as they fear might happen? What if they are attacked by fanatic Arab raids, and neither the Arab nor Israeli authorities come to their defense in order to maintain the peace agreement? Might the Israelis who are for the settlements rise in revolt against the government? That could be a devastating situation.

Finally, of course, there are many who believe that this peace is no peace at all, but just a preparation for the next Arab-Israeli war. One suggested scenario is that the peace agreement will break down, Israel will take action against the Palestinians, and the Arab patron nations will come to the defense of the Palestinians against Israel.

Arab Control of Moslem Terrorists

One of the key elements as to whether the plan is workable is whether or not Arafat and his PLO can charge their spots. Can a terrorist organization plotting to destroy Israel turn into a functioning authority, living in mutual harmony with Israel? Can Jewish settlements exist adjacent to Arab settlements under Palestinian authority?

Present plans call for Arafat to bring in 20,000 trained Arab police, mostly from the Kingdom of Jordan. Will they be able to control the West Bank? What will they do if some terrorists attack a Jewish settlement, and then retreat to the neighboring Arab village? Will Arab police pursue Arab terrorists? If not, will the Jewish settlement attack the Arab village? If the terrorists are apprehended what courts will try them?

It all seems like an administrative nightmare.

The Impact of the Koran

An important aspect of the whole question of relations between the Israelis and Arabs revolves around religion, specifically the interpretation of the Bible and the Koran. Most of our readers are far more familiar with what the Bible has to say about the Land of Israel than what the Koran states. One of the speakers we had for our tour group in Jerusalem was a military officer from the Israeli Army who specializes in public relations. He often addresses English-speaking and Christian groups, and frequently travels to America on speaking tours.

One would think that this military expert would concentrate on the strategic aspects of the Israeli-Arab conflicts, and he certainly did explain much about these matters. But, to our surprise, he had a copy of the Koran at the podium. (By the way, for those who want to study this further, he recommended the edition published by Penguin Classics.) He said that a very real issue is what the Koran commands its Moslem followers to do with regard to peace efforts.

For instance, on page 206 of the above-referenced edition, the Koran instructs Moslem believers to “Make war on infidels who live around you.” Furthermore, page 86 promises, “We will burn those who reject our revelations.” These statements are typical of the inimical attitude the Koran has toward non-Moslems, including adherents of Judaism and Christianity.

Among Moslems, of course, there are those who take these commands very seriously, to the point of fanaticism, devoting their lives to such efforts as terrorism against Israel and all of Israel’s supporters. But there are also those who interpret these hostile statements in a broader way, saying there is room for genuine peaceful relations with their neighbors. Finally, we are told, there are those Moslems who take a more hypocritical position: “Pretend to make peace with the Jews, get what you can from negotiations, and, when the opportune moment comes, take the rest of the land by force!”

All three of these positions are being brought forth in the debate among the Arab Palestinians and nations, and many Israelis are wary of the implications of the religious beliefs of the Moslems on the potential for the peace process.

Other experts in the issues of this conflict indicate that Moslems teach that if any territory has ever been historically under the control of Moslems, but has been lost, it must be returned to Moslem control. This covers a lot of territory, including parts of Europe, such as Spain. But the immediate concern is the land of Israel.

Israel, or as the Moslems prefer to call it, Palestine, has been under Moslem control almost ever since the beginning of the Moslem religion in the seventh century. The only exceptions have been the century or so when the Crusaders from Europe came and established the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the twelfth century, and the more recent episode of Zionism in our twentieth century, with the return of the Jewish people.

The Moslem Arabs tend to look at the return of the Jewish people in the same way they viewed the Crusaders, as a passing phase, and that given another hundred years, the Jews will be as gone and forgotten as were the Crusaders. They fail to recognize the tenacity of the Jewish people for the Land of Israel, but there is concern about these historical realities. As our Israeli military spokesman, mentioned above, stated, “We have won several major wars and numerous battles with the Arabs, but the Arabs need only to win one war to succeed.”

One reason the Jews are very hesitant to enter into an agreement with the Moslem Arabs which depends heavily on the Arabs voluntarily living up to their commitments, is that they are afraid that once the Arabs perceive that they have some kind of strategic advantage, they will annul the peace agreement and attack Israel once more, and that the Koran would support them in this tactic. These Israelis believe the only way to have peace with the Arab is to maintain strong military positions, so that the Arabs will not be tempted to attack.

Possibility of War

Wary Israelis, who do not trust the sincerity of the neighboring Arab nations of the Palestinians, feel that the whole peace experiment will collapse, and they will have to defend themselves in another war. The difficulty is that, if such a war comes to pass, Israel will have to defend itself from much less secure military positions than they have now.

While a bare majority of Israelis appears to support the Labor Party’s government efforts with its peace agreement, a large minority stridently oppose it. They are, for the most part, led by the conservative Likud Party, with Benjamin Netanyahu as its primary spokesman. We were able to interview several people who reflected the opposition view.

YESHA (Judea, Samaria and Gaza)

One of the most interesting interviews we had was with a woman who represented an organization called Yesha, which, as we noted above, is a Hebrew acronym for the areas which Israel occupied during the 1967 Six Day War, Judea, Samaria and Gaza. They are primarily concerned with the problems of the Jewish settlements in these occupied areas, which most of the world calls the West Bank.

The Yesha organization is very worried that the Jewish settlements are going to be abandoned and ruinously exposed to the terrorist elements in the Arab villages. Currently, these settlements are being protected and policed by the Israeli Army, and they feel quite secure. But the peace agreement envisions the contradictory development of the withdrawal of the Israeli Army from the area, while at the same time continuing to be responsible for the security of the Jewish settlements. Yesha is afraid that there will be Arab attacks on the settlements and that the Army will not be able to respond to problems from a distance. They certainly don’t think the Palestinian police will be interested in arresting and prosecuting Arabs who attack Jewish settlements.

The very roads between the settlements are also in jeopardy as we discussed above. The Jewish settlers are concerned about being ambushed on these roads. The Israeli military spokesman mentioned above indicated that a radical solution is being proposed for this problem. They are actually thinking about having two separate road systems throughout Yesha, one Jewish, the other Arab. The respective authorities would then police their roads. Such a remarkable construction emphasizes the difficulties involved in solving these problems.

“Peace for Peace, not Land for Peace”

The slogan often quoted by the proponents of the peace agreement, by both Jews and Arabs, is “Land for Peace,” that is, Israel must be willing to exchange the territory it captured in 1967 in order to have peaceful relations with its neighbors.

Yesha contends that this is a shortsighted and dangerous position and that trading its hard-won strategic land exposes the nation to war, not peace. They propose a different slogan, “Peace for Peace.” In other words, they want to establish peaceful relations with their Arab neighbors without surrendering any territory, in exchange for the Arabs establishing peaceful relations. No exchange of land is necessary, in this viewpoint, if the Arabs are serious in their desire for peaceful relations.

Rallies at Wall and Knessett

During our first week in Israel, our TV crew was able to get footage of two major protest rallies that occurred on the same day. One was at the Western Wall and the other was on the spacious grounds of the Knessett. There were several thousand people at the Wall rally in the afternoon, and it was estimated that there were from 50,000 to 100,000 people at the nighttime rally at the Knessett. Both rallies were designed to register protest over the government’s peace agreement with the PLO.

One of the things that Yesha most resents is the feeling that Israel is being pressured into an unwise settlement with the Arabs by the U.N. in general in the U.S. in particular. This process has begun in earnest during the Bush administration, and has been continued during the Clinton administration. They believe that it was the same external pressure that caused the election of the Labor Party, as well as the ensuing efforts to arrange accommodation with the PLO.

We have already alluded to the lecture given our tour group in Jerusalem by the Israeli Army officer. He made a number of significant points about the position of Israel in light of the new peace agreement and in light of the demise of the Soviet Union.

Communism the Old Threat — Mohammedanism the New Threat

With Russia at the head of the vast expansionist Soviet Empire, international Communism was perceived as the greatest threat to world stability. Israel played a key role in assisting NATO during the Cold War in combating the expansion of the Soviet Union in the Middle East. This was an old threat.

Now, the officer said, the threat is not the atheism of Communism, but the false religion of Mohammedanism. Noted above are some of the doctrines of the Koran, which cause many of the adherents to be untrustworthy and implacable enemies to those they consider to be “infidels.” If they were just isolated to the sands of the Arabian peninsula, Moslems would be a relatively simple people to deal with. But they have spread far and wide since the seventh century when they began, and now dominate much of the eastern world, from northern Africa, through the Middle East, the southern tier of the old Soviet Union, much of the territory in and around India, and into the East Indies.

With all of this territory, the Moslems control an enormous amount of the geopolitical influence in world affairs, buttressed by their wealth in the oil reserves they own. In one way or another, Moslems are involved in much of the unrest that is found throughout the whole part of the world. Certainly, India has found itself in a struggle between the Moslems and the Hindus, which has forced the creation of Pakistan and Bangladesh in this century.

Also, in the post-Cold-War period, the old Yugoslavia has disintegrated into a bloody conflict between the Moslems and the non-Moslems of that sad Balkan region. Bosnia is the main trouble spot of Europe, and one of the great fears of the NATO countries is that the conflict might spill over into the areas of the Old Soviet Union, where there is such a large concentration of Moslems. As one commentator, who is reputed to be an expert on affairs in that area, said, the southern part of the old Soviet Union is becoming increasingly “Middle Easternized.”

Thus, as the Moslem-dominated states in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea areas exercise their independence from Russia, they are becoming more and more oriented to their coreligionist nations in the Middle East, along with all the attendant problems.

Once again, Israel is a key placer when it comes to this new threat, the expansionist Moslem religion. It is the only truly democratic and open society in the midst of the hostile world of Moslem autocracies. The neighboring Arab/Moslem nations really have no semblance of what we know as democracy. Egypt is perhaps the closest thing to a democracy, but it is very shaky. Jordan and Saudi Arabia are shaky monarchies, based on the hereditary lines from Mohammed. Syria and Iraq are fun by military-type juntas, and on it goes.

But ever since Israel was re-created in 1948, it has been a thorn in the side of Arab/Moslem geopolitics. They have done everything they could think of to destroy the Zionist state and push the Jewish people into the Mediterranean Sea. They waged the most massive wars since WWII against Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 (Korea and Vietnam were limited wars in comparison), and they waged an economic war with their oil embargoes and their boycott. So far, however, they have not succeeded. Lately, however, they have utilized the new technique of the “Intifada,” by which they take advantage of the position of the Palestinians within Israel as a “fifth column” and work against Israel from the inside.

The other strategy has been to terrorize the Western nations in general, and the United States in particular. The Moslem terrorists have had some success in destroying international passenger airplanes, disrupting airports, and recently exploding a bomb in the World Trade Center in New York.

The message was clear, and Israel was at the heart of it all. As long as the West supported Israel, particularly its occupation of the “West Bank,” there was going to be trouble, the Moslem terrorists indicated. What the Arab/Moslem states had not been able to accomplish on the battlefield, they were now accomplishing through these crafty efforts. The U.S. and the U.N. began to apply heavy pressure on Israel to negotiate with the Arabs/Palestinians/Moslems, even if it meant dismantling the hard-won security of the territorial buffer zones of the “West Bank” and the Golan Heights.

So Israel now finds itself entering into the uncharted waters of a vaguely defined peace plan, in the heart of the hostile Moslem-dominated empire which stretches out on all sides of Israel.

Movement Toward Conditions Prior to Ezekiel 38 and 39 — Superficial Peace

One does not normally hear an Israeli Army officer, who represents the public relations arm of the military, speaking about Bible prophecy. Yet here was our speaker, in his Army uniform, not only opening the Koran to see the kind of instructions it gives to its followers, but also the Bible, to consider its end-time prophecies about Israel.

Those of you have read our book, COMING: THE END, RUSSIA AND ISRAEL IN PROPHECY (sequel to THE COMING RUSSIAN INVASION OF ISRAEL), are familiar with the view that the next fulfillment of prophecy after the Rapture of the Church on the way to the Tribulation is the invasion of Israel by Russia, Eastern Europe, Persia, Ethiopia and Libya. This is the Gog and Magog war described by Ezekiel in the 38th and 39th chapters.

We are used to hearing this interpretation discussed in evangelical church pulpits and seminaries, but not among military strategists. Our Israeli solder spokesman did just that. He stated in no uncertain terms that he believed the new peace agreement was actually setting the stage for the war described in Ezekiel 38 and 39, which begins, “In that day when my people of Israel dwell safely” and in “unwalled villages,” after they have been “gathered out of the nations.”

The officer noted that those who attack Israel in this future war are not the immediate neighbors of Israel, such as Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Rather, they are the more distant nations mentioned above, led by the nation to the extreme north. He further felt that the replacement of Communism by Mohammedanism as a major doctrine in the countries formerly composing the Soviet Union in no way diminished that area’s threat to Israel.

The coming difficulties that Israel faces are not a pleasant subject, but they constitute the sad “time of Jacob’s trouble” that will prepare the nation for the return of its Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is significant that at least some of those in Israel’s leadership structure recognize the current implications of these Biblical prophecies.

MAYOR OF JERICHO

The day we arrived in Jerusalem with the TV crew, we had a planning session with our Israeli production representative. We indicated we would like to interview various people and leaders about the peace agreement. The local representative asked who we would like to talk to among the Arabs. Half jokingly, we responded, “How about the mayor of Jericho?” He said he would see what he could do. The next day he told us he had arranged for an interview with the mayor.

Jericho is a small Arab city today, and is the oldest inhabited city in the world. It is situated close to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. According to the terms of the peace agreement, the first step is for the Palestinians to assume autonomous control over Jericho and Gaza. The PLO leader, Arafat, at this writing, has already assumed the title of President, and has announced plans to set up his headquarters in Jericho.

Thus Jericho is about to change from being a relatively sleepy Arab village to assuming the center of the stage for the success or failure of the peace agreement. The mayor of Jericho is in the heart of the changing situation, and we felt it was important to find out how he felt about the new circumstances. In author Levitt’s interview with Mayor Jameel S. Khalaf, a major theme was uncertainty. Even one so centrally placed in the coming situation seemed surprised by it, and Mayor Khalaf would only stress his sincere concern for his community. Holding office since 1981, the Mayor seemed only to want to preserve the status quo of relatively peaceful relations with the nearby settlers and with Israel in general. Jericho is “quiet,” he said. But he clearly could not predict any better than anyone else the real fate of his small but increasingly important city.

MAN ON THE STREET

While it was very instructive and important to interview some of the leaders and official commentators about the peace agreement, it was equally significant to interview the “man on the street” on all sides of the subject. We were able to get on-the-spot opinions from quite a number of Israelis and Arabs at the rallies on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem.

The Israelis

We detected mostly an attitude of guarded optimism among most of the Jewish people we interviewed on the street. They were hopeful the peace agreement would work and felt it was time to have peace in the country after so many years of stress, terrorism and outright war. But even these were apprehensive of the genuineness of the peace, and were wary of the intentions of the Arabs. Several expressed a concern that the Palestinians and Arab nations would not keep their end of the agreement and that this would lead to more trouble in the future.

The most disturbed Jewish interviewees we talked to were the settlers who had come into Jerusalem for the protest rallies. They were very emotional in their concern about what might happen to them in their West Bank settlements. They felt that the suburbs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza that they had spent several years building up were about to be abandoned to the “good graces” of the new Palestinian administration. Some were determined to defend their home neighborhoods no matter what, while others seemed to be resigned to the prospect of leaving their homes.

The Palestinians

Most of the Arabs we talked to were more optimistic about the agreement. They said they wanted to live in peace with the Israelis. Really, they have much to gain and little to lose in the process. The greatest fear the moderate Arabs have is that they may not be able to control the violence fostered by the radical Moslems among them.

For years, the radical Arabs, including members of the PLO, have been quick to assassinate any Arab leader in the West Bank who showed any signs of cooperating with the Israeli government. Thus, the Arabs have done much more harm to themselves than anything the Israelis have done to them through the years of their administration since the occupation in 1967, a fact that the media often ignores.

So the question remains as to whether Arafat is sincere in his expressed interest creating a peaceful relationship with Israel, and if so, whether or not he can accomplish the feat. Both the Jews and Arabs are optimistic that, if the peace agreement can be sustained, it could open up enormous and unparalleled potential for the economic well-being of the Middle East region.

Setting the Stage for Ezekiel 38 and 39

How do we evaluate all of this from a Biblical perspective? We who are believers are supposed to be peacemakers and to pray for our leaders in order that we may peacefully promote the Gospel of Christ. Therefore, we normally rejoice over all efforts that move toward genuine peace among nations. But recent and more distant history forces us to be suspicious of the motives of those involved in this latest of peace agreements.

It seems all too clear that Israel is being forced into a potentially unwise position by the United Nations in general and the United States in particular. The strategic security of Israel is very fragile as it is now, and appears to be further weakened by all these territorial concessions. It also remains to be seen if the Moslem Arabs, who have always maintained that the state of Israel should not even exist, can sincerely enforce an accommodation with Israel.

For those of us who believe the Scriptures, it is also painful to see Jewish people withdraw from part of the land promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This appears to be a serious setback for the restoration of the Jewish people back to the Promised Land. Our view remains that the only people who have any Biblical claim to all of Israel are the Jewish people, regardless of how long Arabs or Moslems have been in possession of it.

Nevertheless, we are not at all surprised by the present situation. We have always believed that events on the world stage move inexorably toward the conditions described in Ezekiel 37 through 39, in which Israel is gradually restored to the land as the “Dry Bones,” and miraculously survives an overwhelming military invasion by the forces of Gog and Magog, paving the way for the scenario of the Tribulation period.

Ezekiel described the end-time situation as the restored Israel dwelling in “unwalled villages.” The prophet was not familiar with cities that had no walls. Until the discovery of gunpowder, walls were an important and necessary part of the defense of any city. But now, walls are not significant and defense is maintained by radar, planes and missiles. So Ezekiel’s prophecy is very accurate, and suggests the somewhat exposed nature of the Israel’s military situation today.

In addition, there is in Israel a perception of “safety” as described in Scripture. From the outside, the Middle East appears to be an unsafe area of the world, but to the Jewish people in Israel, it was always the safest place for them to be, even when the war clouds were the thickest.

Now that there is a peace agreement in place, however shaky it may be, there is even more reason for the Israelis to perceive that they are secure and safe. This would be increasingly the case if the current agreements with the Egyptians and the Palestinians spread to the neighboring Arab nations of Syria and Jordan. But that is precisely the situation that is present in the early stages of Ezekiel’s prophecy. Before the invasion, Israel considers itself to be secure in its boundaries. It has established peaceful relations with its neighbors and has every reason to believe in its security.

But at just this point the enemies of Israel strike. It is not the immediate neighbors who attack, but the more distant nations: Russia with European allies, Persia, Ethiopia and Libya. So, it is not surprising that peace is breaking out all over the Middle East, and is part and parcel of the prelude to the fulfillment of the Ezekiel prophecy, the succeeding Tribulation and the rise of the Antichrist.

PREPARE FOR THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH!

Hay-co-nu Le-bi-yot-Ha-ma-shi-yach

There are other developments in Israel that point to the end time. One is the anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. We were surprised to have a glimpse of this Messianic expectation at the Western Wall.

We were able to visit the Western Wall several times while we were in Jerusalem, including the large anti-peace agreement rally. When one turns around from facing the Wall, he sees across the large plaza the beginnings of the “Jewish Quarter,” with its numerous apartment buildings and condominiums. There, stretched over the side of one of these buildings, we saw an enormous sign with Hebrew letters in black on a bright yellow background: “Prepare for the Coming of the Messiah!”

What a remarkable sign, visible from the most sacred place in the world to the Jewish people! What does it mean? Is it an evangelical message from believers in Christ, something like the John 3:16 signs we sometimes see displayed at American football games? Is it the pious hope of Orthodox Jews, much like the longings for the Messiah that were found in Israel in New Testament times? We asked our local producer-guide, and he explained the real purpose of the sign.

The Messiah in New York City?

In the corner of the sign, in much smaller letters, is the name of the organization that placed it there. It is a group of very orthodox Jews, with headquarters in New York City. They believe the Messiah has come, in the person of a rabbi who is currently living in New York City. They want Israel to recognize him and invite him to come to Jerusalem to establish the Messianic era. We later discussed the matter with a pastor in Texas, and he laughed saying, “There are two things that don’t come from New York City: Pace Picante Sauce and the Messiah!”

Along with the humorous aspects of the situation, there is something tragic about this sign. First, there is the sadness of the fact that these people have not recognized their true Messiah, Yeshua, the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel will know great sorrow until they invite Him who died for them to return, saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Setting the Stage for the Antichrist

But the other tragedy here is that Israel is setting itself up for a counterfeit Messiah. Instead of searching the Scriptures for the bona fide qualifications of the Messiah, some are willing to confer the title on someone they think fills the bill, with no Biblical basis.

The Scriptures indicate this is precisely the situation that will exist at the beginning of the Tribulation. Israel will agree to a covenant with the evil prince for seven years (Dan. 9:24). He will then lead them down the primrose path of the “abomination of desolation” in the revived Jerusalem Temple and the disastrous War of Armageddon. How tragic it is that the world in general, and Israel in particular, must experience all this death, deception and judgment, before the true Redeemer can come to bring peace and life to the world.

It’s good to know in all of this that “today is the day of salvation,” that the Gospel is available now for all who receive Him, Jews and Gentiles alike, and that we look forward to His imminent return at the Rapture, before the tragic days of the Tribulation begin.

RISING TIDE OF ANTI-SEMITISM

Yet another aspect of our interviews in Israel was to focus on the continuing increase of anti-Semitism in the world and the way it squares with the prophetic messages of the Scriptures. If anyone thinks that anti-Semitism ended with the demise of Hitler, he is sadly mistaken. But it takes many forms today, from the blatant hatred of the neo-Nazis and Moslem fanatics to the more benign appearing antagonistic attitude of the political and religious liberals, and even the view among some evangelical Christians denies to Israel its rightful place in the Church age and in the Millennium.

Reminders of the Holocaust

Two great movements of anti-Semitism have occurred during our generation. One was the Nazi effort in Europe to destroy all the Jews in the world in the Holocaust. (By the way, the word holocaust is the Greek word used in the Septuagint Bible to translate the Hebrew word for the “whole burnt offering.”) There has been the ongoing effort of the Arabs and Moslems to eradicate the State of Israel. The word tends to downplay the current effort and forget the former Holocaust, but there are occasional reminders.

Demjanjuk

The most recent reminder Israel and the world have had of the Holocaust was the somewhat peculiar case of Demjanjuk. He was a European refugee after World War II who moved to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen. But Israeli agents became suspicious that this man was none other than the monster of the concentration camps known at the time as “Ivan the Terrible.” Charges to this effect were levied against him, the American authorities cooperated, Demjanjuk’s citizenship was revoked, and he was deported to Israel to face trial.

The whole case brought back the awful reports and images of the persecution of the Jews throughout the Holocaust. The trial reminded the world that there really were people like “Ivan the Terrible” who did those horrible crimes.

We felt it was important to interview some of the people who were intimately involved with the Demjanjuk case and those who were survivors of the death camps. One of the people we met was the director of the Jerusalem branch of the Wiesenthal Institute. This organization is responsible for tracking down the remaining Nazi war criminals wherever they are and bringing them to justice. They wanted very much to have Demjanjuk convicted. They were also involved in the undercover infiltration of the neo-Nazi organization in Germany this year, which we will describe later.

In the Demjanjuk case, after a period of years in the trial process, the evidence persuaded the Israeli Supreme Court that he was not Ivan after all. No witnesses could be found that could definitely identify him as Ivan. There were those who felt they recognized him in some Nazi activity after all these decades, but not as Ivan.

What came to light was that Demjanjuk was instead a guard at one of the concentration camps, but not Ivan’s. The prosecutors tried to have the charges changed, but the Court decided that he could not be tried again for the lesser charge after having been acquitted of the greater charge.

Thus, he was released from Israel and returned to America. There was considerable agitation about this release among the Israelis, who felt frustrated that they couldn’t convict Demjanjuk, even though they knew he was guilty of concentration camp service.

But in America Demjanjuk still had problems. When he originally applied as an immigrant to the U.S. after the war, he signed an affidavit that stated he had never been associated with the Nazis. Thus, it appears that he falsified the statement, and the State Department reported that it was looking into pressing charges against him also. At this writing, his U.S. citizenship case remains under review.

Neo-Nazi Movement

One would have thought that the Nazi movement died with Hitler and the Third Reich, but, amazingly, it is rearing its ugly head in the very place where it began earlier this century. Germany is experiencing the revival of a still small but vocal movement of neo-Nazis.

But the movement is not limited to Germany. Anti-Semitism is also found in Russia, where revived nationalism since the demise of the Soviet Union is restoring ancient negative feelings about the Jews. There is also a certain continuing level of anti-Semitism under the surface in the rest of Europe and in America as well. One way in which this new Nazism is expressed is in the denial of the historicity of the European Holocaust.

Denial of the Holocaust

Some of the blatant anti-Semites have decided that the specter of the Nazi Holocaust must be expunged from the history books. Apparently, they feel that if people believe the systematic murder of six million Jews actually happened under Hitler, they will shrink in horror from any revival of the Nazi viewpoint. Thus, the neo-Nazis and their sympathizers try to diminish the reality of the Holocaust, or deny its existence altogether. They will say that only a few thousand Jews died in the camps, and the camps themselves were not nearly so heinous as has been reported.

They were just detention cells for all those who had organized opposition to the regime or were, in fact, criminals. The idea that millions upon millions of Jewish men, women and especially children were collected from all over Europe, hauled in railroad cattle cars, deposited in extermination camps, made to be slave laborers, experimented upon, starved, gassed and cremated is purposely ridiculed and explained away as journalistic exaggeration.

Those of us who lived through World War II saw the evidence of the death camps as they were liberated by the American Army, have these pictorial images etched on our minds. We cannot imagine anybody attempting to deny their reality. But there is a new generation coming along who did not live through all of what awful period of discovery. Many of them cannot believe that this kind of bestial cruelty could exist in refined, educated, industrial western nation like Germany. They are open prey to these neo-Nazis revisionists who try to describe the whole matter as a distortion or even as a Zionist bid for sympathy.

The Jewish people worldwide, and in Israel particularly, have gone to considerable lengths to make sure that they and the world never forget the facts and the reality of the Holocaust.

Undercover Investigation by Israeli

In the midst of all of this resurgence of anti-Semitism, the Jews are not taking it lying down. Recently, an Israeli detective went to Germany and posed as a representative of an Australian fascist newspaper. He was able to infiltrate the neo-Nazi movement and get photos and recordings of their activities. He has since reported his findings to the German and Israeli governments. Dramatic as they were, investigator Svoray’s findings were almost ignored by German authorities who seem almost powerless or unwilling to interfere with the neo-Nazis in their own country.

Setting the Stage for All Nations Aligning Against Israel (Zechariah 12)

While we are distressed about all this modern anti-Semitism, we are certainly not surprised. Men have always hated what God loves, and God has sworn an eternal love for His Chosen People, Israel. This hatred continues through the Church Age, the Tribulation, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, up to the War of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ. Zechariah describes the final war as a time when all nations gather against Israel and Jerusalem. Is that possible?

It takes little imagination for us in our generation to imagine the whole world up in arms against the Jewish nation, with an effort to destroy Israel once and for all. The only positive effect about this development is that it is a sign of the end — of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will destroy the enemies of Israel and the Church, and establish His kingdom on earth.

INTERNATIONALIZATION OF JERUSALEM

Part and parcel with the concept of the peace plan is what to do about Jerusalem. Ever since the 1967 War, all of Jerusalem has been in Israeli hands. Israel reunified the city by annexing East Jerusalem, which included the very significant Old City and was in Jordanian hands from 1948 to 1967. The unified Jerusalem was declared the capital of Israel in 1980, as it was in the golden era of King David and King Solomon. As far as the Jews were concerned, Jerusalem was from then on theirs forever, never to be divided again.

One of the problems was, though, that particularly nobody else recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The Arabs felt that Jerusalem had been taken from them, and refused to recognize Israel at all. The United Nations and the rest of the world sympathized with the Arab position, and considered East Jerusalem to be part of the “occupied territory.” Not one country, including the United States, has its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem. Rather, all the embassies are in Tel Aviv. Israel is the only country in the world where the city it has declared as its own capital is not recognized by any other nations.

In many ways, the struggle over Jerusalem is more religious than political. The Jewish people considered the Temple Mount in general, and the Western Wall in particular, as the most sacred place in the world where they can worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was the site of the ancient Temples of Solomon and Herod. But the Arab Moslems have a claim to the Temple Mount as well, and their famous Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque have been standing there for 1,300 years! It is revered as the place where Mohammed made his journey to Heaven, according to the Moslem tradition.

Finally, the Christian religion looks to Jerusalem for its origins, as the city where Jesus taught, died, rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven, and where the Church was born. Christianity exercised political control over Jerusalem in the Byzantine era (fourth to seventh centuries) and during the Crusades (twelfth century). Even now, the Vatican and Eastern Orthodox groups have ownership rights of many historically significant Church buildings, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem), and the Church of the Nativity (Bethlehem).

Only worldwide Jewry and many evangelical Christians appear to be happy with the current arrangement, with Israel being in political and military control of Jerusalem. The rights of all religions and the sanctity of all religious sites are zealously protected, which was certainly not the case before Israel gained control of Jerusalem. However, what the Moslems and most liberal Christians (Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and World Council of Churches) have been urging for decades is some kind of internationalization of Jerusalem.

In other words, Jerusalem would come under the political control of the United Nations, and all religious groups could worship and make pilgrimages under the protection of the United Nations. While this sounds like a reasonable solution to many, the past history of the U.N. in preserving peace and guaranteeing rights has been less than encouraging.

Chief Rabbi Meets with Pope

In the euphoria and hubbub surrounding the signing of the peace agreement, there was a possible step in the direction of the internalization of Jerusalem that went by almost unnoticed. The Chief Rabbi of Israel visited the Pope in Rome. That may not seem significant until one realizes that this was the first time in history such a visit had occurred. The Vatican has been fairly unfriendly to Israel, feeling that its primary interests in the Middle East were vested in the Arab nations and peoples. But now that the Palestinians and Israelis were making mutual arrangements, the time seemed right for some accommodation between the Jews and the Roman Catholics. The subject matter of the visit was not revealed, but it has long been known that the Vatican favors the internationalization of Jerusalem plan.

What some people think may be in the works is some kind of formal agreement between Israel and the Vatican about Jerusalem. In fact, there are those among the evangelical Christians in Israel who believe that just such an agreement has already been concluded. They are fearful of the impact of this kind of an accord. They think this deal has been worked out in secret just like the one with the Palestinians, and the leaders are merely waiting for the propitious moment to announce it to the world.

Jerusalem still “Trodden Down by the Gentiles”

Jerusalem certainly figures prominently in Bible Prophecy. Jesus called it “the City of the Great King,” and He looked forward to the time when He would return and rule over Jerusalem as the capital of restored Israel and “the head of the nations.” But, according to the Scriptures, there are still dark days ahead for Jerusalem between now and that wonderful time. The city has known very sad days in the past, in the times of the first and second destructions by the Babylonians and the Romans. Yet the critical time to come is called “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” and the Great Tribulation.

We evangelicals who believe in this difficult upcoming time are not happy about it, but if we are true to the Scriptures, we have to teach it. Among other things, one of the purposes of the Tribulation is to prepare Israel for the Second Coming of Christ. Part of that whole scenario is that not only will the Temple be rebuilt in Jerusalem, but that unbelieving Gentiles will still have considerable influence in the city. In a remarkable passage (Rev. 11:2), this Gentile influence is described:

But the court, which is outside the temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Thus, even when the Temple is standing again in Jerusalem during the Tribulation, the unbelieving Gentiles will still be treading down the Holy City. Perhaps the plans we are now seeing to make Jerusalem an international city are setting the stage for this kind of situation of Tribulation Jerusalem, which John described in Revelation.

II.

Archaeological Discoveries

Modern Israel is a laboratory of Biblical developments. Everything that is happening there has some Biblical significance, whether it be in politics, archaeology or ecclesiology. It is an amazing thing that stones, rocks and artifacts that have been buried under hills for thousands of years are now being unearthed and displayed for all the world to see. These discoveries not only educate us about long-lost cultures, but they invariably confirm the veracity and historicity of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

This is a little bit of a problem for scientific archaeologists. They go to great lengths to establish their objectivity, and divorce themselves from any pretense of “proving the Bible.” Yet every time they turn a spade in Israel and much of the Middle East, that is precisely what they wind up doing. We who believe the Scriptures have no such problem. We openly rejoice with every discovery which confirms the Word of God, and make no apology for our satisfaction with the process.

Let’s face it. For several hundred years, the scholarly elite have been attacking the historicity of the Scriptures. They have declared with their all-knowing erudition that the Bible is merely a compilation of mythology. There was no actual Noah, Abraham, Moses, David or Daniel. These were mythical heroes invented by the priestly class that came to power in Israel after the return from Babylon around 500 to 300 B.C. Furthermore, there was no actual historicity to Jesus of Nazareth or the Galilean Apostles. There also were the pious inventions of church fathers in the second and third centuries, who wanted to give Christianity an apparent basis in history.

The average Christian today is shocked to find out that such apostasy is taught in the halls of learning. But it most certainly is, and not only in secular universities, but it has ruinously infected most (though not all) of the seminaries professing Christianity and Judaism. No wonder our church and synagogue pulpits are so often filled with people who believe so little of the Word of God.

Into this hostile intellectual environment comes these irrefutable discoveries of archaeological facts on an almost monthly basis from Israel. They are routinely confirming all the historical statements in the Scriptures, Old and New Testaments. Where the Old Testament states there was a city in a certain locale at a certain time, lo and behold, there is the city, covered up by a hill, known as a tel, for so many thousands of years. Documents and inscriptions are found demonstrating the reality of various leaders and wars and countless other facts of history mentioned in the Bible. When the New Testament mentions that the Gospel of Christ began in certain fishing villages on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and spread to become an active church in Jerusalem, lo and behold, evidence is found of houses of Christian worship in Capernaum and ossuaries in tombs with Christian inscriptions in Jerusalem dating back to the first century of Jewish Christianity.

The scholarly world cringes at every one of these discoveries, because they all illuminate the fallacy of their long-held assumptions. They try to downplay the significance of the findings, indicate that they are open to various interpretations and that they really do not prove the Bible. But these discoveries are exactly what we would expect to find, if we simply assume that the Scriptures are factual historical descriptions of events in history that actually took place.

As one can imagine, the archaeologists who believe the historicity of the Bible feel a little uncomfortable in this type of scholarly atmosphere. They secretly rejoice over every piece of evidence they uncover, and then have to appear sufficiently detached among their colleagues to maintain their intellectual credentials. It would seem that just such a man is the archaeologist who discovered, in the summer of 1993, “the stone of the House of David,” Dr. Abraham Biran. One of the crucial interviews we conducted in Israel was with Dr. Biran, and it was an unforgettable experience.

The news about the discovery hit the international news wires in July, and the Associated Press and The New York Times carried articles about the House of David stone. It had certainly caught the attention of the scholarly world. The following is an article we published in our ministry newsletter about the finding before we made our journey to Israel and had an opportunity to interview Dr. Biran ourselves:

The Stones of the House of David

By Thomas S. McCall, Th.D.

The stone in Dan lay buried under the wall and under the dirt for 2,800 years. It had been part of a proud monument erected around 850 B.C. by the pagan king of Damascus, gloating over his victorious capture of the towns of northern Israel. But when the fortunes of war changed, Israel recaptured Dan, and the boastful pagan monument was an offense to the king of the ten northern tribes. He shattered the offending stele and incorporated it ignominiously within the stones of a new wall intending it to be forgotten forever.

… remained undiscovered for 3,000 years, until a few weeks ago!

So the small stone in Dan with the strange angular markings remained undiscovered and unappreciated for almost three millennia, until a few weeks ago when the spade of an Israeli archaeologist brought it once again into the light of day.

Within a few days, the discovered stone has already caused shock waves in the arcane world of biblical archaeology, something akin to the earlier discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Why is this rock so important? Why does it have the scholars so astonished? It is because of the letters etched into its side in the Semitic language of Aramaic, “the House of David.”

So what? Who cares if an old rock has “the House of David” inscribed on its side? Anyone who cares about the reality and truthfulness and historicity of the Bible does. Indeed, the very claim of Jesus to be the Messiah rests, in part, on His descendancy from “the House of David.” The sad fact is that the scholarly world has practically denied the reality of the Davidic dynasty and has relegated it to myth and legend. There had never been from contemporary sources any archaeological discovery (in Jerusalem or anywhere else) outside of the Bible to confirm that there ever was a King David or a line of ruling descendants bearing his name.

Suddenly, out of the debris of the far northern Tel of Dan, there comes a stone of undeniable antiquity, written by a contemporary ruler of Syria, about the existing “House of David,” the dynasty that ruled Judah out of Jerusalem. What a confirmation of the Bible and the reality of the kings of Jerusalem!

On Friday, August 6, 1993, there appeared in The New York Times the following statements in an article by John Noble Wilford:

An Israeli archaeologist has discovered a fragment of a stone monument with inscriptions bearing the first known reference outside the Bible to King David and the ruling dynasty he founded, the House of David.

Scholars of biblical history said this was strong corroborating evidence for the existence and influence of the House of David in early Jewish history and in the tradition of both Judaism and Christianity. In their excitement, they used words like “phenomenal,” “stunning” and “sensational” to emphasize the importance of the discovery in biblical archaeology.

Most of us are not very familiar with the names of the personalities that form the background of this remarkable stone from Dan, such as Asia, Baasha and Benhadad. Asa was a godly and very popular king of Judah, who ruled in Jerusalem about 850 B.C., or about a century after the time of David. With the help and guidance of the Lord, King Asa had a spectacular victory over a massive invading Ethiopian army of one million soldiers with a numerically inferior force of about 580,000. This caused the defection of many people in the northern kingdom of Israel to return to worship the Lord in Jerusalem. To prevent such a great erosion of his kingdom, King Baasha of Israel created a strategy, and King Asa formulated a counter-strategy as is described in the book of 2 Chronicles:

In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah, and built Ramah, in order to let none go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. And Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of Jehovah and the king’s house, and sent to Benhadad king of Syria, who dwelt at Damascus, saying, There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I send thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me (2 Chron. 16: 1–2).

There was, from the beginning of the divided kingdom, a sense of rivalry between Judah and Israel. Israel had the bulk of the population and land with its ten tribes, but Judah had the tradition-laden capital city of Jerusalem, with its fabled Temple, and the divinely established dynasty of King David. At times during the 300-year history of the two contemporaneous rival kingdoms, they cooperated with each other against common enemies; but more often, they found themselves fighting with one another.

There was always a great temptation for the northern Israelites to forsake the rival altars of Baal to return to the worship of Yahweh in Jerusalem, and the northern kings constantly had to fight this desire by building bigger and better pagan temples and priesthoods in the north. During the reigns of King Asa in Judah and King Baasha in Israel, there was just such a situation. King Asa and his splendid victory over the invading Ethiopian army made his kingdom of Judah and its magnificent Temple irresistible to the northern Israelites desiring to go to the annual feasts. Baasha became so frustrated with the drain of his subjects to the south that he finally decided on the military solution of the construction of Fort Ramah on the border between the two kingdoms. This would be sort of a “Berlin Wall” to keep his subjects from crossing the border to Jerusalem and to keep the Judahites from infecting the Israelites with their doctrine of Moses and the prophets.

King Asa could not tolerate this barrier, so he devised a counter-strategy to cause King Baasha to cease and desist his construction of the “stone curtain” of Ramah. While Asa’s only ally in the great Ethiopian war had been the Lord, he figured his new ally in this conflict with Israel would be none other than King Benhadad, who ruled Syria from Damascus. He raided the treasury in the Temple and in the Palace of Jerusalem and paid the pagan Syrian king an enormous sum of money to get King Baasha off his back. Benhadad was more than willing to accommodate Asa against his natural enemy, the northern kingdom of Israel.

Syria struck swiftly and decisively and captured the far northern town of Israel, including the well-known Dan (of “from Dan to Beersheba” fame). The plan accomplished its purpose — Baasha was stunned by this Syrian attack in the north at a time when he had been preoccupied with his conflict in Judah in the south. He had to pull his forces out of Ramah and throw them into the defense of his northern frontier with Syria. King Asa was victorious once again. With Ramah now undefended, he razed the uncompleted fortress and carried the quarried stone and precious wooden beams away to build his own defense towns of Gibeh and Mizpah. The “stone curtain” had been torn down and the border was once again open to commerce and pilgrimage between Judah and Israel.

King Asa was very pleased with himself that his strategy of using Syria to overcome his difficulties with the northern kingdom had succeeded, and he probably concluded that the Lord God was as happy about the situation as he was. But, much to his chagrin, a prophet from the Lord showed up later with the bad news:

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and has not relied on Jehovah thy God, therefore has the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army, with very many chariots and horsemen? But when thou didst rely on Jehovah, he delivered them into thy hand. For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro through the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of those heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly; for from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

And Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in the prison; for he was enraged with him because of this (2 Chron. 16:7–10).

The godly King Asa, like his forefather Solomon before him, was to discover the difficult lessons of dangers inherent in leaning on the fickle arm of the flesh rather than on the Lord, and he suffered the disastrous consequences. The truthful prophet also learned how dangerous it is to bring the truth of God to someone who had been godly, but has become willfully disobedient. Unlike David who was confronted by the prophet’s accusation, “Thou art the man,” and repented, Asa took out his shock and anger on the messenger and threw him into prison.

Meanwhile, the Syrian King Benhadad solidified his hold on Dan and the other northern towns of Israel he had captured. From here we leave the scriptural narrative and proceed with what has been discovered by our modern archaeologists — a shattered piece of a monumental stone called a stele.

Enough pieces have been discovered to determine that the stele proclaimed King Bernhadad’s victory over Israel when he captured Dan and remained there until the situation changed and Israel was able to recapture Dan. Whoever was king of Israel at that time must have despised the boastful Syrian monument and had it smashed into dozens of pieces.

There was no archaeological or non-biblical evidence to prove otherwise until this summer!

These small pieces of discarded stone were later used as part of the building materials for a wall in Dan which was buried in the debris of the centuries until a few weeks ago.

The dominant liberal theology of the past several centuries has taught that there probably never was a King David, and that the “House of David” or the Davidic dynasty was just some later priests’ concoction of legend and myth to justify the Jerusalem Temple and the priesthood after the time of the Babylonian Captivity around 400 B.C. And, frankly, there was no archaeological or non-biblical evidence to prove otherwise. That is, not until the summer of 1993.

Who would have thought that in the obscure Tel of Dan, in the north of Israel far from the religious and political center of Jerusalem, there would be discovered the first evidence from contemporary sources of the reality of the “House of David”? But now it has come to pass, and the entire scholarly world must revise its historical perspective more in line with what the Scriptures say about the period of time.

The difference between us and them is that we assume, by faith, that the statements of the Scriptures having to do with history are true and accurate, and we have been vindicated wherever evidence had been uncovered. These dominant liberal scholars, on the other hand, assume that the Scriptures are inaccurate myths and then have to revise their perspectives every time evidence is produced to the contrary.

What more evidence still lies buried beneath the dust of Israel and the other Bible lands? What other thrilling discoveries are yet to be uncovered as tel after tel reveal their ancient histories which have lain secret for all these thousands of years?

The Scoop with Dr. Biran

Before we got to Israel, our local production company had already arranged an interview for us with Dr. Abraham Biran, the archaeologist who discovered the “House of David” stone in Dan. He is the director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology in Jerusalem, and is in charge of the excavations at Tel Dan. Although he is 84 years old, he is very active and energetic, and he is acutely proud that, at this advanced age, he has made the archaeological discovery of his life. Dr. Biran was the director of the Antiquities Department for the state of Israel until he retired at age 65. Many men would have taken life easy then, but he then took on this current responsibility, and has been working at the Dan excavations for 19 years, as well as developing the museum about Dan at the Institute. Suddenly, at age 84, he has become known internationally because of the remarkable discovery of the stone.

When we arrived at Dr. Biran’s office, we were surprised to find that the amazing stone was by his desk in a plastic milk carton, covered with a cloth. It was, indeed, about the size of a gallon milk container. We then learned that no one had yet been permitted to photograph the stone. Although The New York Times and the Associated Press had interviewed Dr. Biran, they were not allowed to take pictures of the discovery. Dr. Biran told us he was holding back on publicity until he had an opportunity to present his finding to the Archaeological Society in Washington, D.C. a few months later. He consented, however, to allow us to photograph and videotape the stone, and interview him for two reasons:

1. We agreed not to broadcast our TV documentary on the subject until after his presentation to the Society.

2. We understood and appreciated his estimate of where the stone fit into biblical history, at the time of the concurrent reigns of Asa (Judah), Baasha (Israel) and Benhadad (Syria).

Dr. Biran was delighted that we had studied his thesis about the placement of the stone in history during the events recorded in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles at the time of Asa, King in Jerusalem, and gave us a very animated interview about the stone.

In addition, he gave us a guided tour through the museum, which displays many things about Dan, the Biblical city in the far north of Israel. For instance, Dan was a center of worship for the northern kingdom of Israel during its some 200-year existence from the death of Solomon until the Assyrian captivity. The northern prophets, such as Elijah, were constantly doing spiritual battle with the priests of Baal and other pagan deities that were worshiped in the area.

Thus, it was not surprising that they discovered a significant altar in Dan, which was apparently utilized for the worship of pagan deities. This altar is on display in the museum, along with various cultic artifacts, such as an urn with ashes and a scepter head.

Also, the excavating team discovered a tower built during that same period in Dan, with three gates containing arches. It is called the triple arch tower. This is significant, because it was long thought that the Romans invented the arch, and they certainly utilized it throughout the world. But this discovery proves that the arch was used by the Israelites as early as 850 B.C.

Impact on Archaeological World

The discovery of the “House of David” stone is bound to have a significant impact on the archaeological assessment of the Israelite occupation of Canaan. It would seem that it is no longer tenable to deny the existence of the Davidic Dynasty from the time of David to the Babylonian Captivity. The scholars will have to readjust their understanding of the period to conform much more closely to the Biblical record than they have done in the past. It will be interesting to see how this is carried out.

III.

Revival of the Israeli Church

While much of our attention, and that of the world, has focused on the spectacular rebirth of the State of Israel, and its implications both geopolitically and biblically, another reappearance has quietly gone on which has been practically unnoticed by anyone. That is the rebirth of the Israeli Church, the Mother Church of all Christendom.

ISRAELI CHURCH HAS NOT EXISTED FOR 19 CENTURIES

The Israeli Church, to a large extent, disappeared along with the Temple in A.D. 70. There was certainly a body of believers in the Holy Land all during the Roman, Byzantine and Crusader periods, and, to a lesser extent, throughout the Moslem domination. But, for the most part, these were Gentile Christians from Europe and some local Arab Christians who had settled in the Land. There were very few indigenous Jewish people in the Land who were believers in Jesus as the Messiah.

In the last few decades, though, there has come about the calm resurgence of the indigenous Jewish Church in Israel. These are Israelis who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their own Messiah and Redeemer. Some of this has come about through missionary work done by church organizations in Israel, and much has been done by the Jewish Christians who have moved from America and Europe to make their aliyah, or return, to the Land of Israel. Gradually, as time has progressed, some Sabras, or native Israelis, have also come to the Lord.

They are creating their own kind of churches, which they call Messianic congregations. They are a very unusual church, by Western traditions. They might meet for worship on Saturday morning or evening, or Sunday. They might be almost all Jewish people, or a combination of Jewish, European and Arab believers. They might speak entirely in Hebrew, or they may provide several interpreters to translate the sermon to small groups in the congregation in English, Russian, French, Arabic or some other language. We have been informed that there are some 60 such congregations in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberias and throughout Israel!

Importance in New Testament

The Israeli Church was very important in the New Testament. It was really the Mother Church, and it was from Jerusalem that the apostles and other believers went forth with the Gospel to the known world. More than that, for the first generation of the Church age, whenever the believers in Christ had to settle a question of doctrine or practice, the apostles would meet in Jerusalem to report on what the Lord was doing, and to debate important doctrinal matters. The apostles went forth with authority after having settled questions with the guidance of the Holy Spirit at the “summit” conferences in Israel.

The Apostle Paul had a very soft spot in his heart for the Mother Church in Israel. For at least a couple of years, his primary fund-raising project was to collect an offering for “the saints in Jerusalem” from the churches he had established among the Gentile nations. He often reminded them of the fact that they had benefitted spiritually from the Israeli Christians and that they therefore had a responsibility to help them financially in their needs (Rom. 15:25–27).

When the Apostle Paul returned to Jerusalem for his last visit, he brought with him the large offering from the churches around the Roman Empire. James and the elders of the church greatly appreciated the gift and told Paul that there were many thousands of Jewish believers in Christ there. Shortly afterwards, Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and brought to trial before the Sanhedrin for preaching about Jesus.

The impact of the Mother Church of Jerusalem and Israel was great upon the evangelical movement in the Roman Empire, until Rome crushed Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple in A.D. 70.

Potential Value to Church Today

The world has not seen a true Israeli Church since that time. For 19 centuries, there has been no indigenous Israeli Church in the New Testament sense. But now, we have one again. It is comparatively small, but it is vocal and it is determined to have a testimony to this generation of Israel. It would seem that this new Israeli Church has a potential of meaning as much to the body of Christ in our time as it did in the New Testament era.

The church universal did well when it was balanced with a strong witness in Israel and an emerging testimony in Asia Minor and Europe. The Jewish and Gentile arms of the body of Christ were thus well represented. The same thing might well happen now, as the church in Israel gains strength and momentum. Having a strong Jewish voice for the Gospel once again in Israel could be a great encouragement to believers throughout the world, and should also make it easier for Jewish people everywhere to identify with the message of Christ. After all, if Jesus is acceptable for Israelis, He must be acceptable for Jews in the Dispersion!

Responsibility of Gentile Believers (Romans 15)

It would seem also that the Gentile believers in Christ have the same kind of responsibility to the Israeli Church today as they did in the first century. One could well imagine that, if he were to show up now, the Apostle Paul would argue for the Gentile Christians to support in practical ways the Jewish Christians in Israel. He might even endeavor to raise an offering for the saints in Jerusalem just as he did in the first century.

KING OF KINGS BIBLE COLLEGE

One of the interviews we were able to obtain was with Ilan Zamir, the president of the King of Kings Bible College, which has small campuses in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. He is an Israeli who came to the Lord and received his education in Bible schools in Canada. His institution is training the leaders of the Messianic congregations to teach and minister to the people there.

The Messianic Congregations

As we explained above, there are many congregations in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Tiberias, the main Jewish cities in Israel. For the most part, they are relatively small, consisting of a few dozens to a few hundred people.

President Zamir informed us that they were having to develop a presentation of the Gospel that is unique to Israel. They have tried utilizing literature produced for Jewish people in the Dispersion, and have discovered it just doesn’t work and is not appealing to the Israelis. Thus, they are finding that other ways of presenting Christ to the Israelis are more successful, and they are pioneering this effort.

4,000+ Jewish Believers in Israel — Many Sabras

According to our interviewee, there are some 4,000 Jewish believers in Christ in Israel at this time. Not only that, but he said a majority of them are Sabras, or native Israelis. Out of some four — five million Jews in Israel, this may not sound like very many, but they are vocal and steeped in the Israeli ways, and they are beginning to make an impact on the nation.

I asked if there are any Sabra evangelists of a bold nature, and Zamir said there were two or three who were outspoken, and were getting to be well known in the country. This is important because the Israeli government will have a difficult time interfering with native Israelis. Until recently, they tried to tell the immigrant Jewish Christians who have been outspoken for the Lord that they might try to deport them. The government would not be able to hold that threat over the Sabras as native born Israelis.

There are already some anti-evangelical movements developing in Israel. One rabbi has a weekly class in Jerusalem designed to refute the New Testament and the message of the Jewish Christians. A student at the King of Kings College regularly attends these rabbinical classes to respond to these polemical teachings. That makes for a lively class!

The King of Kings Bible College campus in Jerusalem is located in a three-story residential building, which we might call a condominium. It has offices, classrooms and a larger room on the first floor for a Messianic congregation associated with the school.

In Tel Aviv, the Anglican Church has turned over to the college a building for them to use, so they are pretty well equipped to carry out their teaching ministry. In time, they hope to establish a true theological seminary, so that they can more fully train their ministers in a country which prizes education and whose rabbis are among the best educated people in the world.

THE GALILEE EXPERIENCE

In Tiberias, the largest city on the Sea of Galilee, we met with other people who were deeply engaged in spreading the Gospel to Israel. They operate “The Galilee Experience,” which is the educational and evangelistic arm of a business consortium called Galco.

The Galilee Experience invites tourists and local people to an auditorium on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where they view a multimedia presentation showing the whole history of the Galilee, from Old Testament times through the lakeside ministry of Jesus and His disciples, the development of the Talmud by the post-Temple rabbis, and the battles of the Crusaders and Saladin. The presentation is very instructive to Christian pilgrims and very enlightening to the Israelis who attend.

They also have several companies which are an integral part of the northern economy of Israel. The most successful of these is a cellular phone company, which provides equipment and service all over the Galilee area. Another business packages Israeli grape juice and wheat crackers for use as communion items to be exported to churches throughout the world. They employ 400 people, and thus they are looked on with favor by the governmental bodies in Tiberias. Whenever the orthodox groups have raised objection to their ministry, the government has protected them because of the way the companies have helped the local economy.

Because of this situation, Galco and The Galilee Experience have become a haven for Jewish believers in Israel. If, when they receive Christ, they have problems with employment, they can often find a job with Galco. Thus, the companies provide a true service for the Israeli Church in the northern part of Israel.

PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE

The Scriptures speak of the restoration of Israel to the Lord at the conclusion of the Tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. This program of ultimate national conversion is a process. It includes the calling out of the 144,000 Jewish men, who become believers in Jesus, are sealed for service and protection, and then proclaim the Gospel to the world (Rev. 7:4).

Where will these 144,000 come from? They must have heard the Gospel before the Rapture of the Church, but did not receive the Lord until after the Rapture. One scenario in which this could happen is that there will be an active witness for the Lord in Israel during the latter part of the Church Age, in which many Jews are exposed to the Gospel. When the Rapture occurs, the Church in Israel will go to be with the Lord along with the rest of the Church worldwide. Many unbelieving Jews in Israel who have heard the message will then realize that the Rapture has occurred, and will become believers, the 144,000 witnesses during the Tribulation.

Life from the Dead for Church

The Church Age began with a generation of the Israeli Church in existence. It is possible that the Church Age will come to a close with a generation of the Israeli Church back in the Land? It would certainly provide a certain amount of consistency and balance to the events of the Church Age, and would make understandable how the 144,000 could be prepared for the Tribulation.

In Romans 11, the Apostle Paul argues that the stumbling of Israel at the First Coming of Christ resulted in the blessing of Gentiles as the Gospel was spread abroad throughout the world, but that as Israel returns to the Lord, it will be like “life from the dead.” So whatever Israel does works for the good of the Gentiles and the Church, but if Israel is obedient to the Lord, it is even better.

Christians ought to view the restoration of the Israeli Church with great excitement. It could well mean “life from the dead” for the body of Christ. The Church could use a good “shot in the arm” with its apostasy and apathy so evident today. Perhaps the Lord will so use the Israeli Church in our time, as well as to prepare the way for the coming prophetic events.

Ultimate Fulfillment — ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED

Whatever happens in Israel between now and the Rapture of the Church, it is clear that God’s ultimate plan is to restore Israel to Himself. The “dry bones” of Ezekiel’s prophecy are coming together, as the Jewish people return to the Land. When Christ returns, he will defeat Israel’s enemies, and “all Israel shall be saved,” as they look on Him whom they have pierced, and receive Him.

This trip to Israel was one of our best, and we are glad we could obtain this information and these interviews for you to report in this book and to show you on our television program.

The Lord willing, we will continue to bring you the most up-to-date coverage of what is happening in Israel, the center of the earth.

Signs of the End,

The New Millennium

By Dr. Thomas S. McCall and Zola Levitt

ARE THERE SIGNS OF THE RAPTURE?

For believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no prophecy more important than the Rapture, because it is the prophecy that most intimately and urgently affects us. It is the event we are really looking for, and that stirs our imaginations and our hearts. It might be fair to say that the Rapture is the whole point of faith in this life.

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (Titus 2:13)

The key element of the Rapture is that it is imminent, which means that this prophecy could occur at any moment, and no prophecy must be fulfilled before the Rapture. Such an expectation rules out any date setting. The first coming of Christ was on a strict timetable once Daniel received the revelation of the 70 weeks, and it was fulfilled precisely. When the Tribulation begins, there will be another strict timetable of seven years until the Lord returns to reign on the earth. But the length of this age, the Church age, is indeterminate. There is no precise timetable. We are told to keep looking and to be ready for the Rapture when the Lord will come “as a thief in the night.” According to 1 Thess. 4 and 1 Cor. 15, several very exciting things will occur. The souls of the dead in Christ will go with the Lord from heaven to our atmosphere, and from there they will descend to the earth to recapture their bodies, which will be changed instantaneously into resurrection bodies like that of the Lord Jesus.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption… (I Corinthians 15:42, 53). Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

The transformed bodies of the “dead in Christ” will be instantly transported upward to the Lord who awaits them “in the clouds” above. All of this happens “in the twinkling of an eye,” the time required for the adjustment of the human eye to light changes! What about those of us born-again believers who are still alive when Jesus returns in the Rapture? We also will be transformed into our glorified bodies, but without having to die.

… this mortal must put on immortality. (54) So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1 Corinthians 15:53–54)

As soon as we are changed into our immortal bodies, we will quickly follow our brothers and sisters who were “dead in Christ” in our great mass ascension into the air. When the Lord has assembled all of His saints of the Church age in their glorified bodies in the clouds, He will take them all to Heaven with Him. From that time forever, we will always be “with Him.”

… I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2–3)

Almost like a bridegroom of first century Israel, the Lord goes to build a “mansion,” a bridal chamber, for his bride, the Church. He promises, “In my father’s house are many mansions.”

With all of the above said, there are no signs for the Rapture. The title of our book is Signs of the End — the Tribulation, Second Coming, etc. — but the Rapture is a prophecy for which there are no signs. In this respect, it is different from all other prophecies. There is a kind of a hint, though, as to when the Rapture might occur during the course of a year. Several of the other prophecies concerning Christ were fulfilled in connection with the feast days given to Israel through Moses. He died on the Passover, He was buried as the Feast of Unleavened Bread began, He was raised from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits, and He sent the Spirit to indwell believers at the Feast of Pentecost. Each cataclysmic event occurred on the day of the appropriate feast.

The next feast on the Biblical schedule (given in Lev. 23) is the Feast of Trumpets, known to the Jews as Rosh Hashana. This festival occurs in the early fall, usually in September. Could it be that the Lord will fulfill this feast on the great assembly with the Rapture of the Church? The Rapture could occur at any moment, but, if the Lord were consistent with what He has done four times before, He might well bring about the Rapture on the very day of the Feast of the Trumpets. It is something to ponder. At any rate, we are commanded to “comfort one another with these words.” The Rapture is certainly a very comforting promise!

If, indeed, the Rapture is imminent, and no prophecy must be fulfilled before the Rapture, is it possible that any prophecy could be fulfilled before the Rapture? It appears that at least one prophecy has actually been fulfilled, the restoration of Israel among the family of nations. This gradual restoration was clearly prophesied in the Dry Bones prophecy in Ezekiel 36. It did not have to happen before the Rapture, but it has! The existence of Israel today is an astonishing miracle, although the world and even some believers in Christ do not appreciate its prophetic significance. Could it be that other prophecies could be fulfilled before the Rapture? As Pre-Tribulation Rapture believers, we hope that the only thing that can’t occur before the Rapture is the beginning of the Tribulation.

Could the Temple be rebuilt before the Rapture? It might be unlikely, but may be possible. After all, the Second Temple continued to exist into the Church age for several years, until 70 AD. It might be that the Third Temple could be built toward the end of the Church age, sometime before the Rapture. The rebuilding of the Temple appears to be more fitting for the Tribulation, but we can’t rule out the possibility that it could be (but doesn’t have to be) rebuilt before the Rapture. We know for sure that the Temple must be standing by the middle of the Tribulation, when the Antichrist desecrates it, and causes the Abomination of Desolation (Matt. 24:15; 2 Thes. 2:3, 4).

Could the Gog/Magog war of Ezekiel 38–39 occur before the Rapture? Again, it appears unlikely, but we must admit that it would be possible. We are convinced that this war occurs some seven years before the Lord returns to the earth to reign as King of Kings, which would cause it to occur at or near the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation. It may be that this war will be simultaneous with the Rapture. It is possible that, when the Rapture occurs, the nations involved in the Gog/Magog war will take the occasion of the resulting confusion to strike against Israel.

PEACE, PEACE, WHEN THERE IS NO PEACE (Jer. 6:14)

The Oslo accords of 1994 were not a formal treaty, nor were they an actual peace agreement. They were a framework arranged with great secrecy far away from the Middle East, in Norway, by the PLO and the Rabin-Peres faction of Israel. It was a five-year plan, during which several key issues would be discussed and resolved. Among these issues were the security of Israel, the autonomous rule of the Palestinians, the destiny of the West Bank (known as Yesha, an acronym from the Hebrew language, standing for Judah, Samaria and Gaza) along with its many Jewish suburbs and settlements, the suppression of terrorism as conducted by the PLO and the numerous Arab factions, and the permanent status of the holy city of Jerusalem.

The Accords were agreed to by the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) with considerable wariness. Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister, and he reluctantly inched the process along under great political pressure from the UN and US government. While most of the world, the UN, the papacy, and the World Council of Churches pushed Israel hard to make concessions to the PLO, the evangelical churches were generally supportive of Netanyahu. He endeavored to forestall the dismantling of the security of Israel by delaying as long as possible the giving up of strategic land.

As it has worked out, the PLO has used terrorism to extract land and autonomy from Israel. Whenever Netanyahu would balk about ceding land to the PLO, the terrorists would strike in Tel Aviv or somewhere else, the international media would express pity for the “poor struggling Palestinians,” the world powers would put pressure on Israel, and the Israeli government would make more concessions. This scenario happened over and over again during the five-year process.

The media have practically acted as Arab agents in the situation between Israel and Palestinian Authority. When there was terrorism, Israel, the invariable victim, was blamed. Despite constant evidence of the unreliability and dictatorship-nature of the PA, the Israeli government, a democracy, was the one constantly criticized. PA chairman, Yasser Arafat, an international terrorist of long repute, was constantly celebrated as a statesman. We will say more about the media and its apparently anti-Semitic position below.

Arafat repeatedly threatened that he would announce Palestinian statehood at the conclusion of the five-year process. He has delayed doing so to date, with the defeat of Netanyahu and the election of Ehud Barak, and time will tell how his administration will handle these matters. As believers in the Word, we are supportive of Israel’s ownership and possession of the Promised Land. However, we know that events are moving toward the Gog/Magog war prophesied in Ezekiel 38–39, and the subsequent Tribulation. Jerusalem is sadly destined to be “trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).

Great issues are at stake, including the fate of the West Bank and the Golan Heights. We can only pray for the peace of Jerusalem, be supportive of Israel and the true believers there (Jewish and Arab) and await the prophetic outcome of these momentous events.

PROMISED LAND

Israel was thrown into political turmoil in the mid-90s when Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin endeavored to push forward the withdrawal from the West Bank to the PLO, and his subsequent assassination by a young Jewish man who, with many of the Orthodox Settlers in Yesha, believed that Rabin was violating the sanctity of the Promised Land. In this turmoil came the election of a new Prime Minister, highlighted by the fact that Israel had changed its election rules so that the Prime Minister was now elected by a majority vote of the people rather than by a majority of the members of the Knesset.

Netanyahu defeated Peres, who had been the chief architect of the Oslo Accords, and signaled to the world that Israel wanted the brakes applied to the wholesale dismantling of the Land in favor of the Palestinian Authority. This was not welcome news to the Clinton Administration and the powers that be in Europe and the UN, along with the Arab states, who all wanted a speedy recognition of some kind of Palestinian state. The election of Netanyahu, however, was generally welcomed by evangelical Christians in America and Europe who believe in the prophetic future of Israel, as indicated in the Scriptures.

Netanyahu had written a book entitled A Place Among the Nations, which laid out his viewpoints of the history of Israel and the Jewish people, and their struggle to establish a secure homeland in the midst of a generally hostile Arab population surrounding them. It is remarkable that the book was very difficult to get in America, and appeared to be suppressed by the overwhelmingly antagonistic media and political arena.

An internal problem that dogged the Netanyahu administration was the fact that, in order to maintain his thin coalition majority, he had to work with the ultra Orthodox faction, the Shas Party. They were greatly upset about the success of the Messianic Jewish evangelism that is being conducted in Israel, with thousands of Jewish people, including native Israelis (sabras), believing in Jesus and the promised Messiah of Israel. This Orthodox Party was continually putting up proposed laws outlawing evangelistic and missionary activity. This, in turn, caused considerable consternation among the evangelical Christians in America and elsewhere who are the best friends Israel has, aside from the Jewish communities in the Diaspora (a term for Jewish people still in dispersion).

A new election was called, and Netanyahu was defeated by the Labor Party candidate, Barak who, at this writing, is somewhat unknown to most people outside of Israel. He is a highly decorated military hero who is considered to know what the minimal defense requirements are for the security of the nation. However, he seems eager to conclude a peace agreement with the PLO, including some kind of political autonomy for the Palestinians, and considerable chunks of land on the West Bank, along with an official presence in Jerusalem. Time will tell how this will work out, but to many these concessions appear to be setting up Israel for more terrorism in the future.

The peace process may yet prove to be a war process.

FAIR-WEATHER FRIENDS?

In the heady days following the Six-Day War in 1967, America and Israel were the closest of allies, and both were looking out for their mutual interests in the Middle East at the height of the Cold War. Soon after the somber days of the Yom Kippur War of 1973, however, America started on the slippery slope of gradual estrangement from Israel. Some of the elements that contributed to the estrangement were the devastating and embarrassing struggle Israel had military with Egypt and Syria in the first couple of weeks of the war, when it came all too close to defeat; the long gasoline lines as the Arabs established a boycott with their almighty resource, oil; the propaganda war in which the Arabs began to portray themselves as oppressed Palestinians and underdogs; and, perhaps ironically, the cessation of the Cold War, making Israel less critical to America as a strategic ally.

American Jews were somewhat split in their attitude about how Israel could best survive, as were the Jews in Israel. Many believed that the only way to win the struggle with the Arabs was to use appropriate force against terrorism and claim all of the territory of the Land that they could for settlement as their God-given right. Others, though, had become weary of the long struggle, and wanted to “give peace a chance.” They were willing to give over a considerable percentage of the West Bank (Judah, Samaria and Gaza to the Israelites) to the Arabs, and even the Golan Heights to Syria.

President George Bush and his Secretary of State James Baker sided with the “peace” group, and began to put considerable pressure on Israel to cease and desist the construction of settlements in the Yesha areas. When Israel refused to cease the settlement of new immigrants, mostly Russians by the hundreds of thousands, in the mostly vacant land of the Yesha hills, the American administration slapped sanctions on Israel. The Clinton Administration increased the pressure, openly opposed the election of Netanyahu, and worked energetically to bring about his later defeat and the election of the seemingly more cooperative Barak. In the last months of Netanyahu’s administration, Clinton put great pressure on the Prime Minister at the Wye Plantation conference. It was an almost surreal exercise, with Clinton still reeling from the impeachment trial, and it seemed as though the President would do almost anything to bring about some kind of agreement.

Hillary Clinton has actually publicly endorsed the concept of a Palestinian State, with all the ramifications involved in that arrangement. Statehood means sovereignty, an army, naval and air ports, and international relations. Israelis are greatly concerned that this would make the Arabs an even more dangerous minority in the Land than ever before.

While there is still strong support for Israel among evangelical Christians in America, it has weakened in the face of the continual propaganda barrage of the media. A remarkable doctrinal shift has also occurred. Some of the evangelical and dispensational seminaries became embarrassed over the conflict between Israel and the Arabs, and began to question if the modern state of Israel was indeed a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. They constructed a new theological system, which they called “progressive dispensationalism.” This system denies the fulfillment of prophecy in modern Israel. It claims that Israel will be blessed when the Lord returns, but must be considered under judgment and punishment until that time. They think Israel has no more meaning now than Holland or Indonesia. It is a reversal of the position held by the leaders of the dispensational movement from before the beginning of this century until late in the 1980s. There is no doubt that this change in doctrine helped to severely weaken the spine of Christian support of Israel in America and the West.

WORLDWIDE ANTI-SEMITISM

Anti-Semitism didn’t begin with Adolph Hitler, and certainly didn’t end with the fall of the Nazi Reich. It appears that anti-Semitism will not end until the Antichrist is thrown into the Lake of Fire at the end of the Kingdom.

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20)

Anti-Semitism manifests itself in hatred of the Jews in general and hatred of Israel in particular. Israel has very few friends among the nations of the world, and most nations appear to be very weary of the problems in the Middle East. They seem to have bought the Arab propaganda that Israel is the problem, and, if there were no Israel, there would be no serious problems in the oil-rich Middle East. This philosophy persists despite constant internecine wars among various communities of Arabs. Moslem fundamentalists among the Arabs have fostered far more casualties than the total of all the modern Israel’s wars. The UN has condemned Israel more than any other nation for its various perceived infractions, ranging from treatment of the “persecuted” Palestinians to archaeological work in and around Jerusalem.

Europe appears to be mostly ambivalent toward Israel, with the possible exception of Holland, which has long had a soft spot in its heart for the Jews and Israel. England, with its “Lawrence of Arabia” mentality, has a strong affinity with the Arab world, and, ever since it deserted the Jews in the Land in 1947, the British have favored the Arab position against Israel.

Russia, in the aftermath of the Cold War, has looked for scapegoats for its economic and political turmoil. The Russian Jews, as usual, make a convenient target for the Russian extreme nationalists to blame for its troubles. Over two million Jews have emigrated from Russia to Israel during the last couple of decades, and this has caused a serious “brain drain” in the Motherland, and resentment toward Israel. Russia is endeavoring to reassert itself on the world stage after the apparent collapse of the Goliath of World Communism. Recent events in the Balkans have strengthened Russia’s hand in geopolitical affairs, and it could be only a matter of time before Russia will unite with various Moslem countries in an all-out attack against Israel, as described in Ezekiel 38–39.

Another way in which Anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head is through the denial of the Nazi Holocaust. World War II is fading in the memory of new generations, and several groups are dedicated to the proposition that the Holocaust never happened, or, if it did, it was on a much smaller scale than the six million Jews slaughtered because they were Jews. Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the Holocaust Museum in Washington and the film, Schindler’s List, are efforts to keep the Holocaust vivid in the memory of the world, but that seems to be more and more difficult to accomplish.

“O, JERUSALEM!”

The thorniest issue in the whole Israeli-Arab dispute is what to do with Jerusalem. Leaving aside the security issue of the West Bank and the Golan Heights, Jerusalem is the heart and soul of the issues involved. Jews have looked upon Jerusalem as their spiritual and political capital for over 3,000 years since the time of King David and the Temple of King Solomon. The Orthodox pray three times a day for the restoration of the Temple and Jerusalem. Even in the happy occasion of Jewish weddings, a glass is smashed to remember the destruction of the Temple. Every Passover meal closes with the prayer and wish, “Next year in Jerusalem.” The importance of Jerusalem to the mind of the Jewish people cannot be overemphasized:

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. (6) If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. (Psalm 137:5–6)

The Arabs, on the other hand, have incorporated Jerusalem as one of their Moslem holy sites. During the first century of Moslem history, in 683 AD, the Moslems took Jerusalem and built the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, along with the Al Aksa Mosque. For over 1,300 years, then, Jerusalem has been sacred to the Arabs. From their point of view, nothing significant occurred in Jerusalem before the Moslem era. They actually deny the historicity of Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem and worship in the Temple throughout the Old Testament and New Testament era. Guides are not even permitted to bring a picture of Herod’s Temple on the Temple Mount because the Moslem guards assert that there never was a Temple there in Jerusalem.

Israel has its capital in Jerusalem, with the Knesset meeting there, but almost no countries recognize Jerusalem as the capital, and no countries have their embassies there, with a few minor exceptions. Rather, they have their embassies in Tel Aviv, including the United States. The reason given is that having the embassy in Jerusalem would be offensive to the Arab nations. Congress has voted to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, but the Administration refuses to do so.

No other country in the world has its capital so snubbed by other nations.

The Christian world also has a stake in Jerusalem. The historic city was controlled by the Byzantine Roman Empire from about 300 to 600 AD, and the European Crusaders possessed Jerusalem for about 200 years. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of the resurrection of Christ, and the Church of the Nativity near Bethlehem, are two of the most sacred shrines of Christendom. The papacy has asserted its interest in Jerusalem and has proposed the internationalization of the city, an idea that has currency in the UN. The Pope has promised to visit Jerusalem in the critical year 2000, when vast multitudes of Christians are planning to visit the Holy City. Most of the plans are being made with Arafat rather than with Israel.

A great concern is access to the holy sites if the Moslems regain control of them. Bethlehem is becoming more hostile to Christians since Arafat’s takeover, and the Arab Christians in Bethlehem face increasing persecution from the new Moslem majority. When Old Jerusalem was under Arab control from 1947–1967, Jews were not permitted to visit the Western Wall. Fifty-eight synagogues were destroyed in the Jewish quarter of the old city.

One of the most important aspects of Jewish control of Jerusalem has been open accessibility of all the holy sites to worshippers of all religions. Evangelical Christians have concerns also if Roman Catholicism gains control over the sites. Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee is an example of what happens when the Roman Catholics control a sacred site. Non-Catholics are not permitted in the chapel with the glass floor that overlooks the ancient home of the Apostle Peter in Capernaum, so there is a certain amount of discrimination there, although the rest of Capernaum is accessible, for a fee. The Jews appear to be the best custodians of the holy sites for all religions, and it will be a sad day for evangelical Christians and others if control of these sites is taken out of their hands.

“THE STONES CRY OUT”

Can uncovering ancient mounds of dirt be a sign of the end times? Only in Israel and the Bible Lands. Daniel prophesied that, in the end times, there would be an increase in knowledge. This would appear to include not only secular knowledge, but also a broader understanding of Biblical knowledge.

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (Daniel 12:4)

Recent archaeological discoveries have shed light on and generally confirmed many of the events of Biblical history. David Rohl, a British Egyptologist, has been ridiculed and ignored by his professional colleagues for pointing out the flaws of traditional Egyptian chronology, which has little or no place for Biblical historical events. His new chronology, however, demonstrates the historicity of the Bible in many aspects, including events surrounding Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon and Rehoboam. Rohl’s book and television presentation, Pharoahs and Kings, is a landmark in reestablishing Biblical history in the academic arena.

Abraham Biran’s discovery of the House of David stele in the ancient city of Dan in northern Israel is another confirmation of Biblical history. For many decades, learned historians have been saying that King David was a mythical, unhistorical figure, like Hercules or Odysseus. The stone stele clearly indicates that the author of the inscription, a Syrian King (probably Ben-Haddad), had defeated the King of Israel and the King of the “House of David.” Scholars have tried unsuccessfully for years, now, to explain away this reference as something other than what it plainly is, but their efforts have fallen flat. King David has emerged from it all in the halls of academia as not only an historical figure of note, but also the founder of an important dynasty, all of which is developed in the Scriptures.

Hazor (pronounced Hatzor in Hebrew) has been uncovered by renowned archaeologists like Moshe Dayan and, more recently, Professor Amnon Ben Tor. It was the largest city in Canaan at the time of the Joshua conquest, ten times the size of Jerusalem at the time. Jabin was the king of Hazor, and he gathered the might of the Canaanites and other locals to attempt to defeat Joshua’s invasion:

And it came to pass, when Jabin king of Hazor had heard those things, that he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, (2) And to the kings that were on the north of the mountains, and of the plains south of Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor on the west, (3) And to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh. (4) And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many. (5) And when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel. (Joshua 11:1–5).

It must have been a mighty battle, but the Lord fought on behalf of Joshua, and Joshua defeated this mighty army arrayed against him and the people of Israel. After defeating the army, Joshua burned Hazor “with fire.”

And Joshua at that time turned back, and took Hazor and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms. (11) And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them; there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire. (Joshua 11:10–11)

The archaeologists have uncovered a “burn line” in Hazor, and have measured the heat that would have caused such destruction, and have calculated that it was an enormously unusual hot temperature, probably fueled with the great stones of olive oil and timbers in the palace and other areas. The statues of the gods that were worshiped there were also smashed violently, indicating an animosity toward the cultic practices of the Canaanite religion. All of this points to the historicity of Joshua, something that the learned scholars, again, have been loath to acknowledge.

For those who are interested in learning more about this subject, our book The Stones Cry Out contains many of these archaeological discoveries and how they impact on Biblical studies and provide a sign of the end background for prophetic fulfillment.

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING

Many have thought that, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia would no longer be able to lead Persia, Ethiopia and Libya in an attack of Israel. However, subsequent events in the military world (nuclear secrets, suitcase bombs, etc.), Bosnia, Kosovo and other areas show that Russia is still an important force in the world.

The following section is quoted from the Millennium Update chapter of Signs of the End:

It is not just the internal conditions in Russia that cause concern. It is also the international relations that the old communist capital state has forged. They show that its movement toward the events described in Ezekiel has not abated. As long as the massive Soviet Union existed at the height of the Cold War, its role as an enemy of Israel and a supplier of Israel’s neighboring antagonists appeared to qualify it as the quintessential Magog. However, when the Soviet Union fell apart, many Bible students began to question if its Russian core would still qualify as the Magog of Ezekiel.

Subsequent events in the intervening years have borne out that the new Russia is every bit as potentially dangerous to world stability in general, and the Middle East in particular, as the old Soviet Union. Granted, Russia alone does not have the massive military establishment or the financial clout that the old hegemony had, but it does still have enough presence to cause considerable troubles on the world scene. There are still hundreds of nuclear missiles in silos throughout Russia. We have been told that these missiles are no longer targeted, but they could be re-targeted with little effort, so it is difficult to feel too relieved about the disarmament conditions.

Russia’s war machine continues to expand. Contrary to popular notion, Russia did not disband its military-industrial complex. In recent months Russia has deployed a regiment of TOPOL-M intercontinental ballistic missiles, weapons more sophisticated than anything in the American arsenal. This past fall, President Yeltsin commissioned Peter the Great, the largest ballistic missile cruiser ever built. The war machine also turned out a new stealth bomber, and Russia continues to build new submarines at rates equal to the days of the Cold War.

While these and many other ominous developments take place in Russia and China, the Clinton administration has slashed defense spending and reduced America’s military readiness. No longer can America fight a war on one front, let alone two. The Clinton administration has also destroyed two-thirds of America’s nuclear arsenal, making Russia the nation with the largest nuclear arsenal.

Never has American been so vulnerable. With Russia’s economic collapse, never has the fate of world peace been so precarious.

As has been seen in India, Pakistan and North Korea, it is not difficult to move from a nuclear power plant to primitive nuclear weapons. There are rumors that Iran already has possession of a nuclear bomb. If they do not, it will probably only be a matter of time before Iran will have this capability, and they have their patron Russia to thank for it.

Iran, of course, is the Persia of the Bible, and the fact that Russia and Iran are working closely together in these matters could pave the way for them to forge an attack against Israel. This is the kind of cooperation indicated by the prophecy in Ezekiel that will lead to a joint invasion.

In the current geopolitical map, Iran (Persia) and Iraq are separate countries. Indeed, they were actually at war with one another throughout most of the 1980s. However, think of the condition of Iran at the time Ezekiel wrote his inspired book. It was a subordinate district to the nation of Babylon (Iraq) and was actually under the control of Babylon. When Persia conquered Babylon near the close of Daniel’s life and ministry, Babylon was incorporated within (Medo) Persia. It is possible that, when the war of Gog and Magog is fulfilled, Iran and Iraq may be consolidated again. Even though they represent opposing denominations within the Moslem religion, they are, after all, both Moslem countries. There is some evidence of a rapprochement between the two countries, and their consolidation is not unthinkable.

At any rate, Russia is considered even more of a protector of Iraq than it is of Iran. For years, Russia has been an outspoken advocate of Iraq and Saddam Hussein throughout all of the controversy with the United Nations, the United States and Britain over the inspections of weapons of mass destruction.

OUT OF ROME

The European Union, the Eurodollar and NATO events in the Balkans may be setting the stage for the rise of the Antichrist. When we realize that personality arises out of a reconstituted later-day Roman Empire, then the various events in Europe suggest his early entrance into world affairs. The gathering of European nations into confederations for various purposes may well lead to one large federation of ten nations and so conform to Daniel’s picture of the revised Roman Empire out of which the Antichrist will arise.

“THE YELLOW PERIL”

The Book of Revelation indicates that the “kings of the east” play an important role in the end times. Historically, one of the great physical barriers to any land invasion from the Orient has been the mighty Euphrates River. One of the miraculous events during the Tribulation is the drying up of the Euphrates so that the “kings of the east” can accomplish their invasion.

And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. (Revelation 16:12).

Who are these kings of the east, and why are they bringing their armies across the Euphrates valley? The implication is that they are involved in the great conflict of Armageddon. Their ultimate destiny is to join the other armies of the world in their attack against Israel and Jerusalem.

Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. (15) And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. (16) And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. (17) And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. (Revelation 9:14–17).

This other place where the River Euphrates is mentioned in Revelation has to do with the loosing of angels and 200 million horsemen. Are these connected with the “kings of the east” spoke of later? Some suggest that the horsemen are demons, while others indicate that they are human soldiers. The oriental nations like China and India have such huge populations that it is conceivable they could field armies of this size. China has even boasted of having a literal standing army of 200 million men.

China has been in the news during the past couple of years as having spread its espionage tentacles deep into Western military and political circles, especially in the U.S. Considerable evidence has been presented that China has contributed many millions of dollars to influence American presidential races, and China’s agents have penetrated the most sensitive military installations to obtain secrets about nuclear weapons and their missile delivery systems. When China flexed its military muscles, then India and Pakistan demonstrated that they also had nuclear capabilities, escalating the potential of revived arms race in the post Cold War era.

There is also a sinister connection between the Chinese and the radical Muslim countries, such as Iraq. It is no secret that China’s assistance has enabled Iraq to have missiles capable of threatening Israel with much greater accuracy than the “scud” missiles used during the Gulf War at the beginning of the decade of the 90s. It should be remembered that there are more Moslems in China than ethnic Chinese!

While China has had a significant economic transition to limited capitalism, there is still great repression of the people politically, as evidenced by the Tiananmen Square massacre that occurred several years ago. The question of sanctions against China comes up every year, as Congress considers renewing trade agreements, but the politicians consistently decide that China is too important a nation not to have maximum trade. Thus, the Communist regime appears to be rewarded for its repression of the people. It all seems to be working toward the prominence of the kings of the east in the end times, with a potential for a massive and well-equipped army.

THE MOTHER CHURCH IN ISRAEL

Co-author Dr. McCall interviewed Israeli Messianic believer and guide, Zvi Rivai, concerning the church in Israel. The following is from a January 1999 Levitt Letter article:

Modern Israel is a miracle, the beginning of the fulfillment of the Dry Bones prophecy in Ezekiel 37. For those of us who believe the Scriptures, the revived Israel is an astonishing pre-cursor of the Tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Rapture of the Church (which must precede those apocalyptic events). The re-emergence of Israel has been well chronicled among those who continue to cling to the “faith once delivered to the saints.”

However, there is another development that has been less well covered by evangelical observers, even though, in some ways, it is just as remarkable as the restoration of the Chosen Nation. That development is the renewal of the Israeli church. For perhaps as many as 19 centuries, there had not been a recognizable church of Jewish believers in Israel, but there is one today. It may be relatively small; it may be relatively quiet; but it is there. What difference does this make to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ? Apparently not much, but I believe it should.

When the Apostle to the Gentiles, Brother Paul, was establishing churches throughout the Roman Empire, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of the churches among the Gentiles maintaining a supportive relationship with the “saints in Jerusalem.” In fact, the Apostle Paul’s primary fundraising project was for the benefit of the believers in Israel who were facing opposition, rejection and persecution in the homeland of the Gospel. Now, for the first time in untold centuries, churches throughout the world can reconnect with a viable Jewish church in Israel.

“PREPARE TO MEET THE MESSIAH!”

As mentioned before, the Messianic movement among Israeli believers in Jesus is growing, but so are various Messianic movements among the Orthodox Jewish groups. Some Orthodox Jews believe that Rabbi Menachem Schneerson of New York was the Messiah. There was considerable concern when the venerable Rabbi died, but many of his adherents believe that he might rise from the dead. They have signs in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem portraying Schneerson’s picture with the caption in Hebrew, “King Messiah.”

The same group has a bright yellow sign with a depiction of the rising sun facing the Western Wall across the broad plaza. On the sign in Hebrew letters is the exhortation, “Prepare for the Coming of the Messiah.” They are earnestly looking for the coming of the Messiah, and believe that Rabbi Schneerson met the qualifications of the Messiah by keeping the law of Moses, and maintaining the purity of the Kosher and Sabbath precepts.

The Biblical qualifications of the Messiah — such as being born in Bethlehem and ministering in Galilee, and being of the lineage of King David — are simply omitted by this and other groups. This inattention to Biblical Messianic requirements leaves Israel open to receiving false Messiahs, and even a Gentile, like the Antichrist, with Messianic pretensions. The Antichrist will come in his own name, offer peace to Israel and the world, and will delude vast multitudes that he is bringing in the kingdom of peace and prosperity on earth:

I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43)

The Antichrist will appear as an angel of light to Israel, probably with promises of secure borders and the re-institution of the Temple worship in Jerusalem. The Jewish nation will enter into a covenant or treaty with the Antichrist for seven years. Israel will, by that time, apparently be so weary of war and struggle with its Arab neighbors and the rest of the world that it will gladly welcome the relief promised by the Antichrist. This lapse is temporary, though, and by the middle of the Tribulation, most of the Jewish people will recognize the Beast for what he is, a false Messiah and a despot, who will take out his rage in persecution of the Woman (Israel) who brought forth the true Messiah:

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. (6) And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (13) And when the dragons saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. (Revelation 12: 5, 6, 13)

For the rest of the Tribulation, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the people of Israel will be re-examining the truth about the Messiah from the Word of God. We are informed that 1/3 of them will survive the horrors of the Tribulation Holocaust, and will welcome the true Messiah of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, at His Second Coming:

For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord (Matthew 23:39)

Israel’s long estrangement from their gracious, sacrificial Messiah will finally be over, and there will be a wondrous reconciliation between the Jews and Jesus, the likes of which the world has never seen.

THE COMING TEMPLE

One of the main events of End Time prophecy is the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple, so that it can be desecrated by the Antichrist. The Apostle Paul describes the action of this “son of perdition.”

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4)

How much before this event the Temple is built is not clear, but it must be standing by the time of the middle of the Tribulation. Many interpreters of prophecy believe the Temple will be built during the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation.

There are at least four groups in Israel that are moving in the direction of rebuilding the Temple: the Temple Institute (researching and fashioning the furniture and implements), the Temple Mount Faithful (installing a ceremonially pure foundation stone), the priest group (forming a generation of ceremonially pure priests and Levites), and the Rabbinical group that is attempting to certify a qualified red heifer in order to make the Temple ceremonially pure. All of these groups are small and compete with each other for attention and support.

The one that is most open to the public is the Temple Institute, which has a bookstore with museum-type displays and a theater-type room where video tapes about the history of the Temple are shown. Here, both Jewish and Christian groups can see actual vessels and equipment that are being made to furnish a third Temple in Jerusalem. They have an almost Messianic concept of the Temple, that when the Temple is built, the worship of God in the Temple will bring peace to Israel and mankind.

The Temple Mount Faithful have actually cut and ceremonially sanctified a “foundation stone,” a large rectangular limestone block, about four feet long, which is to be the initial block in the construction of the third Temple. Their bold leader, Gershon Salomon, has led a ceremony every year on the Feast of Tabernacles, in which they carry the stone in a truck to the pool of Siloam, pour water on it, and endeavor to take it up to the Temple Mount. There has been such an outcry from the Moslem Arabs against this apparent “superseding” of the site of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque that the Israeli Supreme Court has banned the remarkable stone from coming near the Temple Mount. Instead, the Faithful are allowed only to keep the stone on a small circular parkway, ironically in front of the American Consulate in east Jerusalem. Neither the Jews nor the Arabs know what to do with this dedicated group or their sacred stone.

The third group is the most secretive and difficult to get information about. They are rumored to have a commune in Jerusalem where they are endeavoring to be grooming a generation of sanctified and trained Levitical priests. They have constructed special buildings with a type of arched foundation that is said to keep the rooms ceremonially free from contamination with remains of dead bodies that may be in the ground beneath (the priests are to have no contact with death). The young Cohens or priests are kept and developed in special nurseries and developmental rooms, where they can grow and be educated without contamination. It must be a very elaborate arrangement for the youths and their families. The idea is that these ceremonially clean and educated priests will be able to step in at a moment’s notice if Temple worship is re-instituted.

The final group is of the Rabbis who are industriously looking for the elusive Red Heifer. Why is a red cow so important? It has to do with the purification of the priests and people for service, and the Lord made the physical means of doing this the ashes of the burnt red heifer:

This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke: (17) And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: (Numbers 19:2, 17)

Many see the necessity of having the ashes of a red heifer in order to be prepared to purify and cleanse the priests, their implements and the worshipers in a revived Temple worship. Some believe that the ancient ashes that were last used in the Second Temple are needed in order to start up the proper worship. Thus, we find groups hunting all over Israel for the sacred ashes, which they believe were hidden long ago for future use. However, there seems to be no reason why new ashes cannot be used from a current red heifer. This is the view of the majority of the Rabbinical authorities. So they are putting their effort into finding a red heifer that meets the qualifications, so that they can sacrifice her and utilize her ashes when the opportunity might come to purify the priests and the vessels of the new Temple.

MILLENNIAL FEVER: THE Y2K CRISIS

Back in the secular world, one of the most remarkable aspects of our time is that we are moving from the second millennium into a third millennium since the First Coming of Christ. When the transition from the first millennium to the second millennium occurred, there was great anticipation of the Second Coming. It is quite probable that out of that “millennial fever” the zeal for Crusades to recapture Jerusalem from the Moslems became the battle cry of Christians in Europe. It was a time of great eschatological expectations.

So it is in the current millennial change. There is an exciting anticipation of the return of the Lord, as we come ever nearer to the year 2000. Also, this is not just any millennial change. If the chronology of the Bible is taken seriously, Adam and Eve were created about 4000 BC, or some 6,000 years ago. There is something very suggestive about 6,000 years of human history. If, indeed, “a thousand years is as a day,” then, to the Lord, six thousand years is like six days. There were six days of creation, and it may be that there are six days of human history, at the end of which the Lord would establish His Kingdom on earth. Elegantly, that 1,000-year Kingdom would represent the seventh day of rest, or a “Sabbath.”

There is some uncertainty about the precise timing of the six thousand years, though. The Jewish calendar is supposed to begin with the creation of Adam, and we are currently in the year 5759 in that reckoning of time. We are thus some 240 years away from the 6000 according to the Jewish calendar. Some explanations have been attempted as to why there is this discrepancy of over 200 years, but none are certain. One explanation is that there were 250 or so years that were so terrible in Jewish history that the rabbis just erased them from the calendar!

What makes this millennial change so ominous is its correlation with modern technology, specifically the wonder tool of the computer. Because of the computer and the new millennium, a new word has entered into human vocabulary, Y2K, which means “year two thousand.” Because of the need to save space in early computers, only two digits were used to designate years, instead of all four (i.e., 95 instead of 1995). The computer scientists were not thinking of any problems that might develop when 2000 came. A few years ago, there developed an awareness that numerous computers and chip components that were time based throughout the world would become confused, and think that it was 1900, when it was really 2000.

If the problem was not corrected, then chaos might well develop in banking, governmental, military, travel and many other areas of modern life when the new millennium begins. The difficulty is that no one really knows for sure what is going to happen. There are highly qualified experts on both sides of the issue. Some tell us that all pertinent equipment has been fixed, and that there will be scarcely a blip in the world’s economy when Y2K hits. Others are predicting dire consequences, with riots, famines and great disruptions occurring at the change of the millennium.

Only time will tell how serious the impact of Y2K will be, but one thing government officials fear is that Y2K might become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The thinking goes that people will panic, which will cause runs on banks and other institutions, and bring about a manufactured chaos when it was not inevitable.

By the time many read this book, Y2K may have come and gone, and may be only a memory of passing interest. For those of us still on this side of the millennial change, Y2K is still shrouded in mystery.

All of these developments are indeed signs of the end. All of them point to an imminent return of the crucified and risen Savior to return and rescue His own in the Rapture, bring down the birth pangs of the Tribulation, and establish the Millennial reign of Christ on earth.

Surely, prophecy is included in Scripture so that we understand the Bible to be the Word of God. While worldly prophets come and go, the Bible has been taken seriously for thousands of years as writing which accurately forecasts the future. With that said, it is up to each of us to prepare for what lies ahead. We can only emphasize that the Rapture is an event for which one must be prepared. If, as we said at the beginning, there is no prophecy more important than the Rapture, then there is certainly no issue more important than personal salvation. If we truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, we can pray with the Apostle John very comfortably. That singular reporter testified at the very conclusion of all scripture:

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20)

Epilogue: Piecing Together the Prophetic Puzzle

The advent of the third millennium AD may have indeed ushered in the very last days before the return of Messiah, Jesus Christ. So many significant events transpired within the first few years after the millennial turnover. The feared Y2K phenomenon passed with barely a blip, world leaders — both good and bad — have come and gone, technology has increased exponentially and, of course, the world was changed forever by the tragedy of September 11, 2001. And Israel finds itself bombarded by terrorists from within its borders and international political pressure from without. Never before have I seen the world so ripe for End Times prophecy to be fulfilled!

We’ve established the Biblical teaching that the next event on God’s prophetic calendar is the Rapture, when our Lord will call believers up to Himself in the clouds, transforming us with glorified bodies and escorting us to His Father’s house in heaven. The Rapture is imminent, meaning it could occur at any time, even before you finish reading this page! As much as I enjoy the life God has given me here on earth, I must say with the Apostle Paul, “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). What glory it will be to finally see Him face to face, without guilt or shame, enjoying His presence forever!

If you are reading this book right now, two scenarios are possible. First, the Rapture has already taken place and you were left behind. And you’re now searching for the truth about what happened to all the Christians who disappeared. Keep reading. You can still know the God of all creation personally. Second, the Rapture has not happened yet, and you are eager to discover just what’s going on in the world today and how it all relates to the End Times. Again, keep reading. The world stage is nearly set for the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Lord’s return to earth and the millennial kingdom, as we’ve described in this book. I believe that even now God is making final preparations for His Word to be fulfilled.

As the Bible indicates, End Times prophecy revolves around the nation of Israel. Thus, when Israel takes front and center on the world stage, it’s time for us to sit up and pay attention. In addition, geo-political changes in the world, as well as advances in science and technology, contribute to our understanding that God is at work and the last days are drawing to a close. Let’s examine how Israel’s status in these early years of the third millennium AD demonstrates the Lord’s soon return.

ISRAEL’S STRUGGLE WITH THE PALESTINIANS

The state of Israel has undergone significant upheavals in the last few years both within the leadership of the Jewish nation and with the escalation of terrorism in the form of the homicide bomber. Because of the tremendous strain on national defenses, Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora are split as to how the country can best deal with terrorism effectively while maintaining security and their robust economy. Some have concluded that the “Land for Peace” option is the only means to ultimate stability. However, when former Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in 2000 more land and autonomy (some 98% of what was asked) than any other leader before, Arafat turned it all down and renewed his violent Intifada, sending waves of terrorists into Israeli pizza parlors, restaurants, supermarkets and bar mitzvahs to murder innocent Israeli men, women and children. As Arafat’s own map shows, he doesn’t want land currently under his authority; he wants all of Israel with every Jew pushed into the sea.

As these attacks against Israel have increased, many more Israelis are choosing to put the brakes on giving up additional Israeli territory. The majority are tired of living in fear, tired of giving in to Arafat’s demands, and tired of the United States and other nations pressuring Israel to maintain a restrained response. One evidence of this is the Israeli response to the terrorism that occurred on March 28, 2002, the first night of Passover, when a homicide bomber blew himself up inside a Netanyahu hotel just as Israelis were beginning this all-important religious ceremony and feast. In response, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) to begin Operation Protective Shield. Their goal: Enter Palestinian-controlled territories, hunt down terrorists and destroy their infrastructure. Instead of simply dropping bombs and firing missiles as the U.S. did in Afghanistan against Al Qaida, the Israeli army conducted a house-to-house search to arrest terrorists and confiscate their weapons and explosives. Many soldiers lost their lives in this operation when booby-trapped houses and buildings exploded.

Not long afterwards, the ruling Lukid party in Israel voted to ban the establishment of a Palestinian state, despite pressure from President George W. Bush to make it happen. Israelis and much of the world know that Bush’s attempts to pacify Arab animosity against the Jews was a political ploy to garner support for a U.S.-led attack against Iraq. Has the American president sacrificed the Chosen People, the only true friend and ally and democracy in the region, for revenge against Saddam Hussein? God help him if he has!

Caving in to threats from Arab despots for the sake of free-flowing oil and tacit support for a war against Iraq can only lead America to eventual ruin. One reason, I believe, for America’s success in its short history is its friendship for and support of Israel. God has blessed America because it has been blessing Israel. But the promise of blessing can just as easily become the guarantee of cursing should the United States turn against Israel in order to bow down in the throne rooms of Arab dictators for the sake of a short-term gain.

THE THREAT OF THE ARAB WORLD

When the Jewish state was re-established in 1948, the surrounding Arab nations wasted no time in their attempt to drive Israel into the sea. Despite vast holdings of real estate in the region, Arab dictators rebuffed the idea of living alongside the Jews and from the very first day of Israel’s Independence they have brought war and violence against the Chosen People. The War of Independence in 1948, the Six Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973 were all instigated by the Arab world to destroy Israel. But they did not; they could not. And each time it was attacked without provocation, Israel received a measure of understanding and support from the world community. But since the mid-1970s especially, the world appears to be abandoning the Jews, again.

Author Dennis Prager, in an article for WorldNetDaily, describes the current plight of the Jewish people in the face of Arab aggression:

If ever Arab hatred of Israel was purely political, that time has long passed. Arab, Iranian and other Muslim literature today is as anti-Semitic as Nazi literature was. Hitler’s Mein Kampf is a best seller in the Middle East. Articles regularly appear there describing how Jews kill non-Jewish children to use their blood in holiday floods. Jews have been expelled from nearly every Arab country. And the deliberate killing of Jews, including Jewish children, is celebrated throughout the Muslim Middle East.

Israel has been hated by the Muslim world for centuries, but their drive to destroy the Jewish population has never succeeded — and it will not because God remains faithful to His promises to protect His Chosen People.

Of course, one man in particular has devoted his life to accomplishing the destruction of Israel, the Egyptian terrorist Yasser Arafat. Born, raised and educated in Cairo, Arafat has been responsible for more acts of terror in the last 30 years than any other person alive. His signature is on every bomb that kills innocent Jewish lives. His career in terror includes murders, airplane hijackings and bombings, including the homicide bombings of today. When the Israeli army raided Arafat’s compound in Ramallah during Operation Protective Shield, they discovered reams of documents proving Arafat’s personal involvement in sanctioning terror strikes against the Jewish population. Of course, world leaders rebuffed this evidence and refused to stop dealing with Arafat, whom they tout as the only legitimate leader for the Palestinian people.

Muslims around the world hate Israel. Their mullahs and imams preach this hatred every Friday at mosques. Arab journalists, professionals and diplomats praise the attacks against the Jewish people in government-owned media. Saudi Arabia even held a fund-raising telethon to raise nearly $100 million for Yasser Arafat and the families of homicide bombers. Saddam Hussein stoked these flames of hatred by offering $25,000 stipends posthumously to each bomber. Terror states such as Syria and Iran continue to supply Arafat with weapons to use against Israel. Egypt smuggles weapons through underground tunnels into Gaza. It is no wonder that when Islamic leaders met in Malaysia, they could not categorically state that strapping explosives around one’s waist and detonating them in a crowded supermarket is terrorism. And some of these “nations” are on America’s list as “coalition partners” in the war against terrorism!

This brand of hatred against Israel and those who support her is not relegated merely to backward Arab dictatorships. Everywhere the Arab community thrives, everywhere Islam has a foothold, hatred against Israel spreads to the general population. Anti-Semitism is a worldwide disease, but not an unexpected one. Jesus said of the Jews, “you will be hated by all nations…” (Matt. 24:9)

THE RISE OF ANTI-SEMITISM

Much of the world gasped in horror at the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11, and many initially came to America’s aid. But too quickly the world community began to take account of their own vulnerability to attacks by Muslims. Six months later, much of the world began to blame the Jews, again. It was expected among Arabs, who from day one described 9/11 as a Jewish plot, but nowhere did it become more prevalent than in Europe, the one place that should have learned its history better. Author Prager continues:

Because Europe fears its immense Muslim population, because of its own anti-Semitism, because it is leftist, because it is dependent on Arab oil, and because America supports Israel, Europe is the primary support of those who wish another Jewish Holocaust. Europe, which has been a decaying civilization since the end of World War I, has reached a moral nadir — and once again at the Jews’ expense.

England, France, Germany, Italy and a host of other nations have become hotbeds of anti-Semitism. Oxford University professor Tom Paulin commented that Jewish settlers in Israel “should be shot dead.” “I feel nothing but hatred for them,” he told the Egyptian paper Al-Ahram Weekly. “I think attacks on [Israeli] citizens in fact boost morale.”

The French Interior Ministry reported that in the first two weeks of April 2002 nearly 360 anti-Semitic crimes were reported to police. Incidences ranged from anti-Jewish graffiti to the burning and desecration of Jewish synagogues and graves. Many feel that French President Jacques Chirac can or will do nothing, especially since there are 700,000 Muslim voters in his nation.

Germany is also taking part in this growing hatred of the Jews, again. Public criticism, even from government officials, has demanded that Israel stop bullying the “poor” Palestinians. Demonstrators are seen in German streets holding children on their shoulders with mock explosives wrapped around their waists, calling for Israel’s destruction. One police official even suggested that Jews in Germany not wear any jewelry or other articles that identify them as Jews. What has happened to their shame over the Holocaust?

Italian political commentator Oriana Fallaci wrote of her embarrassment at Europe’s treatment of Israel in her article “On Jew-hatred in Europe.”

I find it shameful that in Italy there should be a procession of individuals dressed as suicide bombers who spew vile abuse at Israel, hold up photographs of Israeli leaders on whose foreheads they have drawn the swastika, incite people to hate the Jews.

I find it shameful that the Catholic Church should permit a bishop, one with lodgings in the Vatican no less, a saintly man who was found in Jerusalem with an arsenal of arms and explosives hidden in the secret compartments of his sacred Mercedes, to participate in that procession and … thank in the name of God the suicide bombers who massacre the Jews in pizzerias and supermarkets.

I find it shameful that in France, the France of Liberty-Equality-Fraternity, they burn synagogues, terrorize Jews, profane their cemeteries. I find it shameful that the youth of Holland and Germany and Denmark flaunt the kaffiah [an Arab headdress] just as Mussolini’s avant-garde used to flaunt the club and the fascist badge. I find it shameful that in nearly all the universities of Europe Palestinian students sponsor and nurture anti-Semitism.

I find it shameful that in the name of Jesus Christ (a Jew without whom they would all be unemployed), the priests of our parishes … flirt with the assassins of those in Jerusalem who cannot go to eat a pizza or buy some eggs without being blown up.

Could this growing hatred toward Israel signal the beginning of the European domination that is spelled out in the Scriptures? The formation of political, military and economic solidarity as personified in the European Union today must cause every thinking Christian to consider the possibility that it will lead to the fulfillment of End Times prophecies pointing to the entrance of the Antichrist. It’s another piece in the prophetic puzzle moving into place.

In April 2002, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told various private and governmental groups in the United States that if Israel is not allowed to destroy the terror network of Yasser Arafat, then the same type of terror will make its way to American shores. One month later, the American government began to issue warnings that homicide bombers would attack the nation, just as they do in Israel.

And yet, misinformed Americans continue to express their disdain for the Israelis for “occupying” Palestinian land, perpetuating the Arab myth that the “Palestinians” ever possessed land anywhere.

Pro-Palestinian rioters in America have stepped up their racist agenda with hate-filled protesting at college campuses like San Francisco State University, where they shout, “Hitler should have finished it,” and “Leave or we’ll kill you.” In the spring of 2002, a mailbox bomb exploded in Philadelphia with a note attached that read “Free Palestine.”

America’s long support of Israel is waning and, like that of the rest of the world, its continued political pressure against the only ally and democracy in the Middle East will likely cause a more virulent anti-Semitism to grow within its own borders.

Remember, America is conspicuous in the Bible by its absence. And in order for the United States to take a backseat to the rest of the world, essentially becoming a non-power in the world, it will see its power stripped away. Abraham Lincoln said that the greatest threat to America’s destruction is not from without, but from within. Turning against Israel is certain to bring about the weakening of this super-power.

THE SYSTEM DUMBING DOWN OF BIBLE STUDENTS

At the beginning of the new millennium, the United States saw another battle being fought on its shores — the battle for the spiritual lives of believers. With hatred for Israel on the rise, making support for the Jews politically-incorrect, complacency and even outright denial of Israel’s central and present role in the fulfillment of End Times prophecy began to become more evident in America’s best Bible colleges and seminaries. Dr. Tom McCall and I have repeatedly detailed our ten-year struggle to point these institutions back onto the straight path of Bible teaching. Many of the leaders in these schools rebuffed our attempts to have them correct their Scriptural errors, just as many world leaders continue to rebuff Israel.

Replacement Theology and its cousin Progressive Dispensationalism have literally begun to transform the Church as a whole, which now sees fewer and fewer congregations concerned about End Times prophecy, let alone conversant in it anymore. Each new generation of ministers without serious instruction in the prophetic Scriptures means that men, women and children in churches and Sunday schools will care less and less about Israel, even to the point that many will curse Israel in favor of its enemies, as some liberal denominations today.

TECHNOLOGICAL PRECURSORS TO THE TRIBULATION

The first few years after the turn of this third millennium have seen yet another significant preparation for the fulfillment of End Times prophecy. The increased effectiveness of computers and the internet, satellite technology and biotechnological advances should make every serious student of Scripture take notice.

Despite the claim of some that the mark of the beast is already here through barcodes or other such devices, the fact is that all of these scientific leaps are mere precursors to technology that the Antichrist will employ in his quest for world domination. It hasn’t happened yet, but we can see, as it were, prototypes of Tribulation-era weapons to be used against the global population.

The year 2002 was replete with announcements from corporations trumpeting technology that would, on its face, make living and shopping more safe and convenient. However, behind the mask of convenience are signs that these new developments will be turned against citizens during the Tribulation, forcing them to swear allegiance to the Antichrist, or be killed.

Making payments by loyalty cards, digitally-read fingerprints, and even chips implanted underneath the skin are just one area of technology that signals what is to come. One company, Applied Digital Research, has boasted that it can implant a tiny chip under the skin that can track a person’s vital statistics, store financial records and even monitor his movements through global positioning satellite! If ever the Antichrist required a device to track his subjects, this prototype is just what he will need. Current calls by government and governmental agencies for identification numbers for every citizen of the world prepares the world for an easy transition to forfeiting their rights… and their souls… to world leaders.

PUTTING IN THE MISSING PIECES

Jesus warned believers not to set dates or speculate as to the exact timing of His return. Date-setting leads otherwise competent Bible teachers into embarrassment and misleads untold numbers of sincere followers into disillusionment. I don’t set dates. But, as I stated at the outset, never have I seen the world so ripe for His coming than now.

Not all of the pieces are in place. God is withholding some until the time He chooses, but we can see without doubt that relatively few pieces are missing.

One of the major events occurring right now is not an impending world war, as the media would like to portray in Israel, but rather a global clamoring for peace. We know from Scripture that at the beginning of the Tribulation a seven-year treaty will be made with Israel. But what choices face the nation right now?

Should Israel come to terms with the Arabs and make peace, allowing for a Palestinian state, it will have to defend itself at even greater odds than before as the Palestinians establish a more secure base of terror against them. Recent history demonstrates that the Palestinians will attack at every opportunity. The use of nuclear weapons by Israel cannot be ruled out. On the other hand, should Israel continue to resist the false peace plans offered by its Arab neighbors, it will be seen as unforgivable intransigence by the world. In both scenarios, global anti-Semitism will continue to rise, eventually bringing Israel to the brink of destruction. What is remarkable about Israel today is the long parade of peacemakers — from Madrid to Oslo to Tenet to Mitchell to Powell, and now Saudi Prince Abdullah. But these efforts have not resulted in lasting peace. Only God will secure that for His Chosen People. The prophet Amos wrote of Israel’s eternal hope:

“In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, and wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by My name,” declares the LORD who does this. “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; when the mountains will drip sweet wine and all the hills will be dissolved. Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; they will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit. I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them,” says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:11–15)

Israel is returning to the Land, albeit in unbelief, as prophesied in Ezekiel 37; the “dry bones” are moving. One by one the pieces are coming together front and center. While the world shouts for the destruction of the Jewish people, God will not allow it. “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope’” (Jer. 29:11).

Prophetically-speaking, Israel sits at the center of the End Times puzzle, not because of homicide bombers, but because God wants the entire world to know, as in the days of Moses and Pharaoh, that there is a God in heaven. And one day soon we shall say as Moses did, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today.”

As these last days wind down and we see God at work to usher in the millennial kingdom, the Church must now more than ever make one last push to win others for Christ, beginning with “the Jew first.” Evangelism among Jews is increasing today, and who knows how many of the 144,000 Tribulation evangelists you and I can influence by our faithful witness to them today? Millions could be won to Christ as a result. Now is the time to get busy in the work of the Lord.

Begin praying how you can be a witness in your own sphere of influence. Jesus commanded us to take the good news of the Gospel to every nation (every unique ethnic group), for in heaven all will be represented. Gather helpful resources that instruct on witnessing to both Jews and Gentiles. Then ask God for opportunities to present the salvation of Christ to those around you with clarity, patience and love.

Remember that you are an “ambassador for Christ” and thereby represent Him to the world. Does the world know this? Do your neighbors know? When you see Christ profaned in the biased media, how do you respond? When our leaders make foolish decisions that put our nation at risk, do they hear your voice? Let them know. Seize these situations to write letters to the editor of your local newspaper or to the television networks or to our president.

And finally, remember that the strife of this world will one day end. Threats of nuclear war and terrorism will be silenced. Acts of hatred will cease. The Lord is near, and He will make all things right in His own time. He will Himself place the last piece of the prophetic puzzle that will inaugurate the thousand years of peace and righteousness. Then He will wipe away the old earth and heavens and create it all over again — a new heaven, a new earth… and a new Jerusalem forever!

STUDY BOOK SERIES by Zola Levitt

The Miracle of Passover

A complete explanation of the beautiful symbols and shadows of the Messiah which appear in this crown jewel of Jewish Holy Days. The true meaning of Communion as the Lord instituted it and as the Church practices it.

The Spirit of Pentecost

From the fear and trembling of the Upper Room to the magnificent miracle of the coming of the Holy Spirit. An exciting presentation of the full meaning of “the birthday of the Church.”

A Christian Love Story

The Jewish wedding customs of the Messiah’s time and how He fulfilled them all in calling out His Bride, the Church. A new and deeper understanding of the bond between the Bridegroom and each believer — a spiritual “Love Story.”

The Signs of The End

The Messiah’s own words of warning about the conditions that would prevail in the world at the end of God's plan. Are we now approaching the Great Tribulation and the return of our King?

Glory: The Future of the Believers

The entire prophetic system explained for those who are going to live it! The Rapture, our time in Heaven, the Kingdom and eternity. Where we go from here. Our rewards, our eternal lives, our entire future.

The Seven Feasts of Israel

A complete explanation of the holy days God gave Moses on Mount Sinai, and how each was fulfilled by our Lord. Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets, Tabernacles, etc., fully discussed as to their hidden meanings in the Messiah. A very special section on how every baby in the womb develops according to God’s system of the holy days.

The Second Coming

The prime difference between the biblical faith and worldly religions is that with the Messiah we have a bright future. What we see is not all we get. The life in this world is of little importance to those who have been promised the kingdom to come. The return of the King fully explained.

Seven Churches: Does Yours Fit In?

A refreshing and unusual perspective on the churches presented in Revelation 2 and 3. A Jewish Christian and Bible scholar, Zola looks at these earliest churches from the Old Testament and Jewish traditional point of view. A highly interesting and most useful study, applicable to church life everywhere today.

How Can a Gentile Be Saved?

Christians always ask Zola, “How did you come to the Lord?” Their real question is, “How can a Jew be saved?” He finally decided to make a biblical inquiry into how they got saved. The results are extremely thought-provoking.

“In My Father’s House”

The Lord said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you.” An explanation of the incredible seven years we will spend as guests in heaven, in the Messiah’s Father’s house.

Israel, My Promised

Has God finished with the Jews? Are the modern Israelites the valid Chosen People of the Bible? A sensitive and very personal look at the land of our Lord, as seen today and as promised in the Kingdom.

A current list of Zola Levitt’s books, tapes, albums, etc. is available at no charge from:

ZOLA

P.O. Box 12268,

Dallas, Texas 75225

www.levitt.com