................................."World News Edition".............................: PROPHECY WEEKLY UPDATE: (13) "Bible Prophecy Blog" Saturday April 28 2012 Iyyar 6, 5772

FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2012

60 Minutes Smears Israel for Christian Exodus from Holy Land

One of the nation's most popular news programs is coming under fire for a report that blames Israel for the mass exodus of Palestinian Christians from the Holy Land.

The Institute on Religion & Democracy (IRD) recently sent out a news release calling attention to the April 22 broadcast of 60 Minutes on CBS. In a segment entitled "Christians of the Holy Land," correspondent Bob Simon declared that the "exodus of Christians from the Holy Land" could eventually leave it "without a Christian population."

Faith McDonnell, IRD's director of religious liberty, says Simon's report ignored Islamic violence against Christians and laid the blame for the Christian migration squarely at the feet of Israel.

"I really felt that this was an attack on Israel more than it was anything else," she tells OneNewsNow. "There was also an interview with Michael Oren, who is Israel's ambassador to the United States, and he was treated with tremendous disrespect."

Jan Markell is founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries in Minnesota. She says the Palestinian Christian flight is not because of some perceived "Israeli occupation."

"This is being done by the Arab community," says the ministry leader. "This is not being done by Israel. Israel is a democracy. She's pro-freedom of religion. She's not chasing anybody out—particularly Arab Christians ... many of [whom] take the Bible literally and properly that Israel would be God's chosen people."

Neither Markell nor McDonnell is surprised that Simon, who is Jewish, would do a "hatchet job" on Israel. Most American Jews, they say, are very liberal and not pro-Israel.

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

Khamenei Uses Fatwa to Disguise Iran's Nuclear Intentions

By Bob Maginnis
BobMaginnis.com

New evidence indicates Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wants nuclear weapons and he created a religious-based ruse to deceive the world into joining new talks. The leader intends to use those talks to buy more time to harden his weapons program, prevent an attack, and persuade world powers to lift sanctions.

Six world powers—the U.S., U.K., France, China, Russia and Germany—fell for the ayatollah’s ruse at exploratory talks held in Istanbul, Turkey April 16. Saeed Jalili, the ayatollah’s “personal representative” at the talks, cited the supreme leader’s fatwa—an Islamic order declaring possession of a nuclear weapon to be “a sin”—to deceive the “six” into believing Iran is serious about resolving its disputed nuclear program. The “six” took the bait and new talks begin May 23 in Baghdad.

But the supreme leader seeks nuclear weapons in spite of his false fatwa. A just unveiled 2009 internal International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) document summarizes a conversation with then Iran’s president, Ayatollah Khamenei. The ayatollah explained “During a [1984] meeting ...the spiritual leader Iman Khomeini had decided to reactivate the nuclear program.” Khamenei served as president 1981-89 before becoming Iran’s current supreme leader.

President Khamenei explained “This [possessing nuclear weapons] was the only way to secure the very essence of the Islamic revolution from the schemes of its enemies ... and to prepare it for the emergence of Imam Mehdi [messiah],” who would bring the world under Islamic rule. Khamenei also said “that a nuclear arsenal would serve Iran as a deterrent in the hands of God’s soldiers.”

The ayatollah’s words, other than the false fatwa, and actions support his 1984 view that a nuclear arsenal is needed to “secure...the Islamic revolution.” For example, he frequently affirms Iran will never surrender uranium enrichment, which continues today with 9,000+ centrifuges and more than 12,500 pounds of enriched uranium stockpiled. Iran has enough enriched uranium to make several bombs.

Further, last year Khamenei provided a 1984-like defense against “the schemes of its enemies.” He said it “was a mistake for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya to give up his nuclear weapons program.” Then the ayatollah said “Look where we are, and in what position they are now.” Qaddafi surrendered his nuclear program to the U.S. in 2003 and then NATO helped rebels defeat him in 2011.

Iran’s nuclear program is run by the Quds Force, an element of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. Quds commanders answer directly to Khamenei which suggests the ayatollah has operational knowledge of every aspect of Iran’s nuclear program, to include its weapons-related activities.

A 2011 IAEA report claims there is “credible information that Iran is engaged in activities relevant to the development of nuclear explosives,” according to Yukiya Amano, director general of the IAEA. Amano said Iran is engaged in design of weapons, computer modeling, neutron initiators, high explosives, and detonators—all nuclear weapon-related technologies.

Further, a 2011 United Nations report reveals Iran—the Quds Force—runs a worldwide smuggling operation, “including procurement related to the nuclear and ballistic missile programs.” The report also indicates Iran tested a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that can reach central Europe.

These nuclear activities earned international suspicion which led to four sets of UN sanctions and threats of attack from Israel and/or the U.S. That pressure evidently prompted the supreme leader to create a ruse to reverse the mounting pressure.

The ruse came in the form of a tongue-in-cheek fatwa, the ayatollah’s guarantee Iran will never seek to produce nuclear weapons.

Evidently U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was fooled by the fatwa. She discussed it with “experts and religious scholars” and also with Turkish Prime Minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish leader said, “I have shared the leader’s [Khamenei’s] statement with [President] Obama and told him that in face of this assertion I do not have a different position and they [the Iranians] are using nuclear energy peacefully.”

Obama and the other world leaders were also fooled by the fatwa because they joined the April 16 talks with Iran believing the regime is now serious about alleviating fears about its nuclear program. But there is a problem, according to the Middle East Research Institute’s (MEMRI) investigation, the Khamenei fatwa never existed. Rather, MEMRI contends it is nothing more than a propaganda ruse.

MEMRI conducted an exhaustive search of official Iranian websites but turned up no such fatwa. Even a group called The Light of Freedom (cheragh-e azadi) submitted a question to the ayatollah regarding the fatwa. The ayatollah dismissed the question as having “no jurisprudential aspect.”

Even though the fatwa doesn’t exist on paper the Obama administration accepted the ayatollah’s public statements eschewing nuclear weapons as a potential “starting-point” in negotiating an end to the nuclear dispute. But a leading Arab commentator says the basis of the so-called fatwa—written or oral—is “truly absurd.”

Tariq Almomayed, editor-in-chief of the London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat, wrote “Tehran has sponsored and engaged with Sunni and Shiite terrorists alike, over the past decades, and these are the same terrorists whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent,” Alhomyaed said. “So after all this, how can we trust Tehran, simply on the basis of a religious fatwa?”

Trust is the key issue but deceiving non-Muslims like the world powers appear to be the ayatollah’s purpose. Iranian officials present the fatwa on nuclear weapons as a propaganda effort to “propose a religiously valid substitute for guarantees of inspectors’ access to Iran’s nuclear facilities,” according to MEMRI.

This official lie is Shiite Islam’s principle of taqiyya—“the obligation to be cautious”—use of lies for self-defense purposes. Doing so is “completely legitimate in Shiite Islam,” states MEMRI’s analysis.

Alhomayed said in his column, “Tehran has a history of failing to comply by its pledges and agreements.” Further, “The problem with the Obama administration is that it wants to pursue policies that may be acceptable to the day-dreaming cultural elite, but not to regimes that are full of cunning and deceit.”

Iran’s supreme leader is cunning and deceitful. The evidence indicates he is doing everything possible to acquire nuclear weapons to include launching fake religious proclamations to deceive the naïve.

The world powers must stop being so naïve when it comes to Iran’s chief mullah and treat him for what he is—the great deceiver. The May talks must not become the “deceiver’s” forum to advance his nuclear program while endangering the Middle East and the West.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

Happy Birthday Israel

By Dr. Chuck Missler
Koinonia House

A new $11 million memorial will be built on Mt. Herzl to honor Israel's fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, receiving approval from the Knesset just ahead of Israel's birthday celebrations. The State of Israel will celebrate its 64th birthday on Thursday, April 26.

Sirens sounded on Tuesday evening as Israel's Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers began at sundown. The sirens will wail again Wednesday morning on one of Israel's most serious days. The day has great meaning for the Israelis, many of whom have friends or family who have died. Wednesday evening, however, the mourning will turn into joy as celebrations begin for Israel's Independence Day. The 5th of Iyyar marks the 64th anniversary of the State of Israel and another year of Israel's successful survival in a hostile world.

Tuesday evening began the sober day in Israel as its people remembered the 22,993 men and women who have died for Israel since 1860. That was the year Jews began to leave the safety of Jerusalem to build new Jewish neighborhoods. At 8:00pm Tuesday night, a one-minute siren sounded in communities all across Israel. Vehicles stopped, and Israelis rose to their feet to remember their fallen countrymen. Again the sirens will sound on Wednesday morning at 11:00am. Again everybody will stop what they were doing and stand in honor of the fallen for two minutes. Military ceremonies around the country will begin immediately after the sirens have quieted, and other ceremonies will be held to honor the Victims of Terror as well as foreign volunteers from around the world who came to fight on Israel's behalf during the War of Independence.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a ceremony in Yad Lebanim in Jerusalem Tuesday evening, along with Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, Supreme Court President Asher Grunis, Israel's Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. Netanyahu wrote to the families of Israel as he does every year, saying, "As a son to a bereaved family, Memorial Day has special significance for me. This day isn't just a national memorial day, it is also a private memorial day for me and the members of my family." The Prime Minister's brother Yonatan Netanyahu was killed during the famous Operation Entebbe raid on July 4, 1976, in which 102 Air France hostages were saved after PFLP terrorists hijacked the plane to Entebbe, Uganda.

At sundown Wednesday, Remembrance Day will end and Israel's Independence Day festivities will begin. The late Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the first Chief Rabbi of the IDF and the man who set the date for Remembrance Day, explained the transition between the two days in this way:

"We view the warriors who fall in battle as those who sprout forth life. The life of a nation grew out of this blood... This day must be more than mourning: We must remember, we must grieve, but it must [also] be a day of majesty and vision."

Stage shows and concerts will kick off in the evening, and the celebration will continue throughout Thursday. The army will hold air and sea displays, and a ceremony for outstanding soldiers will be held. The International Bible Quiz will take place in Jerusalem.

"Who would have thought that after having had to fight seven wars, endure two Intifadas and bear-up against ongoing terrorist attack that the Jewish state would remain democratic and free despite little peace with its neighbors and no resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?" writes Los Angeles Rabbi John Rosove.

Israel has had a rough 64 years, from its War of Independence in 1948, to battles for its existence in 1967 and 1973, and through the constant threat of terror acts within its borders. Israel's security forces are some of the best trained in the world. At one time, every one of Israel's near neighbors was its enemy. It faced hostile armies on all borders. Now, Israel is at peace with Jordan and maintains a relatively stable non-war with Syria as well as the new government in Egypt for the time being. It has serious enemies in the international community and among terror groups within its territories, but it also has some very strong friends. Even then, with God's help, Israel can take care of itself.

Israel's population has grown in the past 64 years. There are 7,881,000 Israelis on this year's Independence Day, up from just 806,000 when the nation was established. About 73.5 percent of Israelis are Jews and 20.6 percent are Arabs. About 161,000 babies were born in Israel during the last year, and more than 19,000 immigrants have come to live in the country, while another 8,000 moved away.

Israel is the land of the Bible, and Jerusalem is the City of David, the city in which the Messiah will take His throne. As Israel celebrates another year of its existence, it also brings us one year closer to that day when the Son of David will begin his earthly rule, and the wolf will lay down in peace with the lamb. There will be plenty of false cries of "peace" before that day, followed by great turmoil. Still, that day will come, and the Messiah will reign, praise the Lord.

Happy Birthday, Israel.

The Coming Kingdom (Part 1)

By Dr. Andy Woods
Sugar Land Bible Church

Evangelical Confusion

The contemporary evangelical world is engulfed in the idea that the church is presently experiencing the messianic kingdom. The idea of the "kingdom" can be bewildering, especially considering how this term is loosely bandied about by today's evangelicals. Many ministries convey the notion that the kingdom is strictly a spiritual and present reality by indicating that they are "expanding the kingdom" through their evangelistic and missionary endeavors. Even Christian political activists sometimes argue that they are "bringing in the kingdom."

Such "kingdom now" theology factors prominently in the writings of various Emergent Church writers. Doug Pagitt proclaims, “And let me tell you ‘Kingdom of God’ language is really big in the emerging church.” [1] Brian McLaren echoes:

He selected 12 and trained them in a new way of life. He sent them to teach everyone this new way of life...Even if only a few would practice this new way, many would benefit. Oppressed people would be free. Poor people would be liberated from poverty. Minorities would be treated with respect. Sinners would be loved, not resented. Industrialists would realize that God cares for sparrows and wildflowers—so their industries should respect, not rape, the environment. The homeless would be invited in for a hot meal. The kingdom of God would come—not everywhere at once, not suddenly, but gradually like a seed growing in a field, like yeast spreading in a lump of bread dough, like light spreading across the sky at dawn. [2]

McLaren further observes: “If Revelation were a blueprint of the distant future, it would have been unintelligible to its original readers...In light of this, Revelation becomes a powerful book about the kingdom of God here and now, available to all.” [3]

Series Preview

Why do so many seem to believe that the messianic kingdom has already materialized? Is there a biblical basis for such a belief? Due to the dominance of kingdom now theology in modern evangelical thought, a fresh scriptural look at the notion of the kingdom is warranted. To this end, we begin a lengthy series on the subject of the kingdom. This series will seek to accomplish four goals. First, the biblical teaching on the kingdom of God will be surveyed from Genesis to Revelation. Only such an analysis will allow us to capture God's mind on this important subject. Second, this series will set forth some general problems with a New Testament based "kingdom now" interpretation. Third, this series will examine the isolated New Testament texts that kingdom now theologians use and show their insufficiency to convey kingdom now theology. Fourth, this series will note why this trend of equating God's present work in the church with the messianic kingdom is a matter believers should be concerned about since this theology radically alters God's design for the church.

An Important Distinction

At the outset, a distinction must be drawn between the universal kingdom and the theocratic (or mediatorial) kingdom. Such a distinction is justified since some verses present the kingdom as in a state of perpetual existence (Ps 93:1-2) while others indicate that the kingdom will be a future reality (Dan 2:44). Moreover, some verses depict the kingdom as universal in scope (Ps 103:19) while other verses picture the kingdom as earthly (Dan 2:35, 44-45). Furthermore, some verses present the kingdom as being directly ruled by God (Dan 4:17) while other verses depict the kingdom as being indirectly administered by God through a human agent (Ps 2:6-9). Thus, the universal kingdom is eternal, comprehensive, and under God’s direct rule. By contrast, the theocratic kingdom is futuristic, earthly, and under God’s indirect rule. [4] Most theological persuasions agree that God's universal kingdom is a timeless reality existing to the present hour. However, theological disagreement relates to the alleged present manifestation of the theocratic kingdom. Thus, the focus of this series will not be upon the generally acknowledged universal kingdom but rather on what the Bible teaches concerning the theocratic kingdom.

Early Genesis and the Kingdom

The biblical story of the kingdom begins as early as the Garden of Eden. Here, God placed Adam and Eve in a position of authority over God's creation. Gen 1:26-28 says: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" It should be noted that Adam and Eve were given authority over the physical realm (fish, birds, living things that move on the earth). Here, God arranged for humanity's first couple to govern God's creation on God's behalf. The technical term for this hierarchy is the office of Theocratic Administrator. This term simply refers to someone who governs for God. In other words, God ruled the world indirectly through the first Adam.

However, Satan soon took the form of a serpent with the specific goal of perverting and reversing this divinely ordained hierarchy. Instead of governing the physical world for God, Adam and Eve were influenced by creation (the serpent) to rebel against God (Gen 3). Such rebellion represented a top to bottom reversal of God's original intention for the office of Theocratic Administrator. Satan's success in inciting this rebellion effectively removed the office of Theocratic Administrator from the earth, as Satan became the ruler of the world (Luke 4:5-8; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11;2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2). What then is the story-line of the Bible? It is how this office is restored through the messianic kingdom. Just as God the Father originally intended to indirectly govern the physical world through the first Adam, He will one day govern the world through the Last Adam or God the Son.

The restoration of the physical kingdom or office of Theocratic Administrator as the dominant theme of the Bible has been recognized by numerous theologians. Note Charles Ryrie's explanation:

Why is an earthly kingdom necessary? Did He not receive His inheritance when He was raised and exalted in heaven? Is not His present rule His inheritance? Why does there need to be an earthly kingdom? Because He must be triumphant in the same arenawhere He was seemingly defeated. His rejection by the rulers of this world was on this earth (1 Cor. 2:8). His exaltation must also be on this earth. And so it shall be when He comes again to rule this world in righteousness. He has waited long for His inheritance; soon He shall receive it. [5]

The late Dr. Harold Hoehner of Dallas Theological Seminary used to terrify doctoral students during oral exams by asking them how they would defend the notion of a future earthly kingdom from the Scriptures. Nervous students would usually start with Rev 20:1-10, which speaks of the future one-thousand-year reign of Christ. Hoehner would then ask the student to find an earlier biblical reference to the coming kingdom. Students then typically went first to Paul, then Christ, then the prophets, and finally the covenants (defined later) to find scriptural support for the coming kingdom. When Hoehner again asked for something earlier, the student was forced to go back to Genesis 1. The learned professor was simply trying to get his students to understand that the theme of a future, earthly kingdom begins on the Bible's very first page. One day God the Father will restore what was lost in Eden. He will again rule the world indirectly through a human intermediary. This human intermediary will not be the original Adam but rather the Last Adam or the unique God-man Jesus Christ who is the second member of the Trinity.

The Mother-Child Cult

The next major place in God's word that speaks to the reality of a future messianic kingdom are those sections that reveal God's covenants with His special nation Israel. It is helpful to understand why God created and entered into a covenant with Israel. According to tradition, Nimrod, the leader of the rebellion at the Tower of Babel (Gen 10:8-9), and his wife Semiramis became the founders of the mystery religion known as the Mother-Child Cult. Their son Tammuz born through an alleged miraculous conception was killed by a wild animal and miraculously raised to life. This event led to the worship of the mother (Semiramis) and the child (Tammuz). When God confounded the languages at Babel consequently ushering in multiple ethnicities (Gen 11:1-9), this Mother-Child Cult was exported into every culture that followed. Although the names of the mother and the child were changed from culture to culture, these religions still epitomized the same idolatrous religious system began at Babel. In Assyria, the mother was Ishtar and the child was Tammuz. In Phoenicia, it was Astarte and Baal. In Egypt, it was Isis and Osiris or Horus. In Greece, it was Aphrodite and Eros. In Rome, it was Venus and Cupid. [6] Given the idolatrous origin of these nations, God through Abram began a new nation independent of this universal impact at Babel. This nation, later called Israel (Num 24:17), would become His vehicle of exporting His messianic blessings to the world (Gen 3:15; 12:3).

(To Be Continued...)

Endnotes

[1] Cited in Roger Oakland, Faith Undone (Silverton, OR: Lighthouse Trails, 2007), 163.
[2] Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 111.
[3] Cited in Oakland, Faith Undone, 158.
[4] Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1986), 397-98; Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959), 19-21; Renald Showers, "Critique of Progressive Dispensationalism," Friends of Israel National Conference (June 2003), 9-14.
[5] Ryrie, Basic Theology, 511.
[6] Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (reprint, New York: Loizeaux, 1959), 19-90; John Walvoord, “Revelation,” in Bible Knowledge Commentary, ed. Walvoord and Zuck (CO: Victor, 1983), 970.

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Saturday, April 28, 2012

PROPHECY WEEKLY UPDATE: (13) "Bible Prophecy Blog" Saturday April 28 2012 Iyyar 6, 5772