Riots in Jerusalem

This is a story that has been percolating for a few days and doesn't seen to be simmering down. In a nutshell, there has been intermittent fighting in and around the Temple Mount, extending into greater Jerusalem and felt to be instigated by Hezbollah and Hamas. The AP has a nice review of this situation in this article:

"Israeli police bring reinforcements to Jerusalem". This article could be reduced to the following statements:

"Israel and the Palestinians both lay claim to Jerusalem, with Israel insisting it will retain control of all of the city, including the eastern sector it captured and annexed in 1967."

"The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, with its major Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, for their future capital. Like the rest of the international community, they do not recognize the Israeli annexation and regard the Jewish neighborhoods that ring east Jerusalem as settlements, which Israel does not."

"Raed Salah, head of a militant branch of Israel's Islamic Movement, told the Haaretz newspaper on Monday that the clashes would last as long as Israel's 'occupation' of the city and al-Aqsa continued."

In a related story, Joel Rosenberg has an ominous story:
"WARNING: ISRAEL IN DANGER OF BEING BLINDSIDED BY TWO NEW GRAVE THREATS"

According to Mr Rosenberg, the two threats are:

"The first threat is the real and growing possibility that the United Nations will shift the nuclear spotlight away from Iran and on to Israel in an effort to force Jerusalem to disclose and dismantle its alleged nuclear weapons and join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)...The U.N. Security Council could pass a resolution forcing Israel to allow international inspectors in. If Israel refused to comply, she could be subject to diplomatic isolation, crippling economic sanctions, and even international enforcement."

Rosenberg continues with this: "...such a resolution could be introduced by Russia. The coalition against Israel could be led by Russia and Iran. Should this happen, we could begin to see the prophecies of Ezekiel 38-39 come to pass in fairly short order."


"The second threat is the real and growing possibility that the world will unilaterally create and recognize a Palestinian State, not through negotiations with Israel but by fiat. World leaders have been trying to engineer a "comprehensive" final peace agreement for decades."

"With his Cairo and U.N. General Assembly speeches, President Obama has taken the lead on this effort. He is demanding Israel return to its pre-1967 borders, divide Jerusalem and allow the Palestinians to have a state with contiguous borders (thus cutting Israel proper in two)."

"During July, the EU's Javier Solana lectured in London and said that if the peace process was going nowhere, the international community should consider recognizing a Palestinian state under a UN resolution EVEN WITHOUT ISRAEL'S CONSENT." (emphasis mine).

"In short, the Solana plan is an imposed solution, using the UN Security Council as its main instrument, which will decide the issue of Israel's future borders and those of the Palestinian state."


The world is continuing to turn against Israel, just as Zechariah 12 informed us:

"On that day, when all the nations are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."

Israel will ultimately be placed in a situation where only God can protect them - and God most certainly will protect them. This is not because the people of Israel "deserve" God's protection - but because God intends to preserve His holy name:

"I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel. It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord. This is the day that I have spoken of." (Ezekiel 39:7-8).

"This day" is a reference to the day that God personally intervenes on Israel's behalf, upon the massive invasion as led by Russia and Iran. As the world lines up against tiny Israel, they are oblivious to God's promise to intervene. Thats too bad.

What we're ultimately seeing is simply put:

"The Nations" (as they collectively act against Israel, with attempts to "move" Jerusalem from Israel) versus God.

I'm betting on God.

"Irish vote unleashes flurry of EU activity"

That was the headline of an EU Observer article (here). Quotes from the article:

"With the vote now in the bag, the focus has already switched to the practicalities of implementing the Lisbon Treaty and particularly to the presidents of Poland and the Czech Republic. Their signatures under the treaty, which has already been passed in the parliaments in Warsaw and Prague, are needed for the new rules to come into force across the 27 nation club."

"Polish President Leah Kaczynski's office has already indicated that he will sign the document soon leaving his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus as the likely biggest opponent to the treaty."

""The Czech president's delay affects a series of other decisions including the formation of the new commission, whose term expires at the end of the month and the appointment of the beefed-up EU foreign policy chief and permanent president of the European Council, new posts covered by the treaty."

Mr Klaus added, "But my signature is not the order of the day. I will wait for the Constitutional Court's verdict. Czech senators handed a complaint to the court about the treaty last week. The court is expected in three weeks' time to set a date for a public hearing on the case. The hearing is likely to take place towards the end of November."

Along these lines, we also see the following article "Blair under attack in bid for EU top job". Quotes from this article:

"Eurogroup chief Jean Claude Juncker and the British Conservative party have attacked Tony Blair's bid to become the first EU president, as member states start horse-trading for the EU's top jobs after Ireland's Lisbon Treaty Vote...William Hague, the Conservative shadow foreign secretary told The Times that he was lobbying in Paris and Berlin against Mr. Blair, whose appointment would trigger an anti-EU backlash in the UK ahead of a potential Tory-orchestrated referendum on Lisbon."

Perhaps of greater interest is the lobbying for the powerful "foreign minister" position - a position that many consider equal to or perhaps even more powerful than the President's position. For a prophecy watcher, this position holds great interest. Quotes:

"Meanwhile, French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner has signalled he would be interested in another plum job to be created under the Lisbon Treaty: The post of EU 'foreign minister' and European Commission vice president. The Elysee itself is not giving Mr Kouchner a clear run at the post, with French EU affairs minister Pierre Lellouche over the weekend floating two other names, Hubert Vedrine and Michel Barnier. Mr Vedrine was foreign minister under President Francois Mitterand and a staunch opponent of the war in Iraq. Mr Barnier is a former EU commissioner and now and MEP."

"Germany is also eyeing the foreign minister job for its current interior minister, Wolfgang Schauble, according to The Times."

I have long believed that the antichrist, who we know will arise from the revived Roman Empire (aka EU/Med Union), COULD be the individual who actually gives an order for EU troops to "confirm the covenant" found in Daniel 9:27. It is that passage which describes the initial, defining action of the antichrist - "confirming" the peace covenant between Israel and her neighbors. In today's world, particularly in the Middle-East, the only way to "confirm" a covenant (in my opinion) is to send in peace-keeping troops.

Therefore, we closely watch the lobbying process for this powerful foreign policy head within the EU, once the Lisbon Treaty is finalized. This is the position that could be responsible for "confirming the covenant" of Daniel 9:27 - if this theory is correct. Again, its just a theory - no one really knows who or what "position" within the EU will give the antichrist his initial power. The "President" position is of obvious interest as well.

This story is just beginning to evolve. The antichrist will rise rapidly from this revived Roman Empire, and he may begin his ascent from one of several positions within the EU - perhaps a position not even mentioned in these articles. But the top position, the "permanent President" and the "foreign policy" head are two prime spots which will have enormous power - either of which could be responsible for confirming the "covenant" mentioned in Daniel 9:27.

That possibility alone makes this "behind the scenes" lobbying worth watching. I would expect the antichrist to be very effective in the pursuit of gaining power within the EU.

Let the games begin.

More quakes to come?

There were several articles published last week, which included speculation that the large earthquakes in Samoa and Indonesia could trigger even more quakes across the world. Another, similar article is speculating the same points:

"Warning of bigger tremor to come". In this article we see the following:

"Professor Kerry Seih, director of the Earth Observatory at Singapore's Nanyang University, says earthquakes measured at 8.4 and 7.8 which hit southern Sumatra in September 2007 marked the beginning of a cycle of tremors that starts roughly every 200 years."

"These tremors had released more pent up energy from below the earth's surface than anywhere else in the world over the decade, marking the start of a 'failure sequence', comparable to watching an aircraft falling apart in mid-air, that would inevitably culminate eventually in a much bigger tremor, he said."

In addition to the large earthquakes observed in Indonesia and Samoa this past week, we also had the following quakes which aren't receiving nearly as much media attention:

5.2 - Western Iran - Oct 4

6.6 - Philippines - Oct 4

6.1 - Taiwan - Oct 4

Earthquake "swarm" in California

Third earthquake in four days hits Colorado

Just as the other "signs" have been increasing in frequency and intensity, the "earthquake story" hasn't died down, in fact we are seeing more and more earthquakes, in more diverse places. This recent cluster of earthquakes has raised a lot of eyebrows in the scientific community and there is much speculation on the cause of this phenomena and what we may see in the near future.

Just as Bible prophecy predicted.

Ireland votes "Yes" for the Lisbon Treaty, but...

Ireland, as predicted voted to approve the Lisbon Treaty. It had been felt that Ireland was the last obstacle to final ratification, with the remaining two countries (Poland and the Czech Republic) considered as a lock to approve. In this article which is linked,

"Lisbon Treaty: After Ireland, the Polish and Czech questions", we see that more delays may occur:

"If Ireland said 'yes' to the Lisbon Treaty in its referendum, Polish president Lech Kaczynski would sign the treaty on behalf of Poland in the middle of the week, beginning October 5...Kaczynski repeated many a time that Poland would not hamper the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty."

So count Poland in.

However the Czech Republic is a different, more complicated story:

"However the situation in the Czech Republic is more complex. Czech president, Vaclav Klaus - an avowed Eurosceptic - has held out against signing the treaty, which was approved by the Czech parliament several months ago. Further, Czech senators opposed to the Lisbon Treaty, and reportedly allied to Klaus, recently filed a legal complaint to block its adoption, potentially for months. Klaus has said that he would not sign the treaty until the Czech constitutional court has ruled on the challenge by the senators."

So the Czech final approval appears to be something which will be determined by their constitutional court. This will be an interesting story to follow. There will be enormous pressure on the Czech Republic to complete this ratification, as the EU would like the Lisbon Treaty completed by the end of October. How the EU handles the Czech Republic should be very interesting.



In an unrelated story, there is a fascinating commentary found in the Washington Post, regarding the diplomatic efforts with Iran, and the apparent failure of such:

"The Coming Failure on Iran". In this story we see these quotes:

"The Obama administration and its allies have said repeatedly that they will pursue diplomacy until the end of the year, and then seek sanctions if diplomacy hasn't worked. That sets up a foreseeable and very unpleasant crossroads. 'If by early next year we are getting nothing through diplomacy and sanctions,' says scholar Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution's Saban Center, 'the entire policy is going to be revealed as a charade.'"

Of course we already realize this idea of "negotiations" is ridiculous. Anyone with more than two functioning brain cells and a newspaper realizes that Iran is simply buying time, and has no plans at all to discontinue their uranium enrichment plans. They have made this declaration many times, something confirmed in this article:

"Iran's current rulers, many of whom came of age during the Iran-Iraq war, sound convincing when they say they are ready for the country to suffer more austerity for the cause of Iranian greatness."

Then we see the absurdity of the idea of "negotiations" in this article:
"Iran Avoids Nuclear Talks at Geneva Meeting".
Hardly a concession to "diplomacy". Sigh. Quotes:

"Iranian delegates to nuclear talks in Geneva have announced that they are willing to discuss the Iranian nuclear program - if the discussion is part of a larger discussion on the subject of global nuclear disarmament. Chief Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili wrote a proposal calling for worldwide disarmament and sent it to several foreign leaders. The proposal does not touch on Iran's nuclear program."

"The Iranian delegates did not agree to discuss Iran's nuclear program during Thursday's Geneva meeting, except to repeat that Iran sees its uranium enrichment program as a national right."

The whole concept that Iran can be talked out of their nuclear program is beyond absurd. They are clearly buying time while they continue their development nuclear weapons - while their President openly calls for the complete destruction of Israel.

If the stakes weren't so high, and if we weren't talking about a terrorist state attempting to destroy Israel, this would be laughable. But this is not funny - especially for those people living in Israel.

This may all be moot - as Israel will most likely ignore the feeble efforts by the U.S. and the EU, and determine their own actions. Thats my prediction. We shall see.

Another day, more signs

Headlines over the last 48 hours:


"Indonesia quake toll climbs to 1,100"

Toll from Typhoon Ketsana climbs"

"Italy mudslide death toll rises"

"Scores killed in India flooding"

"Quake swarm shakes CA's Owens Valley"


"Link for world's earthquakes"


"Lisbon Treaty vote: Early tallies show shift to 'yes'"


There is a lot going on right now. Clearly we are seeing another birth pain. These cycles of birth pains, the times when we see an apparent increase in the various signs that Jesus gave us, are most definitely increasing in frequency and intensity. We should be watching these signs and allowing the realization that we are in the last days strengthen our relationship with Christ Jesus, and witnessing on His behalf:


"So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time." (Mark 13:23).

"Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know whan that time will come." (Mark 13:33).

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." (Matthew 25:13)

"Even so, when you see all these things YOU KNOW THAT IT IS NEAR, RIGHT AT THE DOOR." (emphasis mine) (Matthew 24:33).


There is no need for further commentary.

Jesus said it all.

Update on the EU and the Lisbon Treaty

We've been watching this story very closely. As previously mentioned - once the "EU Constitution" failed to gain approval with every EU country (three countries refused to vote positively for the constitution), the Lisbon Treaty became a factor, effectively serving as a replacement for the failed "constitution" efforts.

Now we watch the Lisbon Treaty process, which, once in effect will finally consolidate all EU member states under one "Treaty" (aka constitution). It will also create a "permanent president" position, and a separate, very powerful position over all foreign policy (this title always escapes my memory). This is an important step in the EU's growth and progress.

In this context, there are two interesting stories:

1. "Irish hold crunch EU treaty vote". Ireland is now - today - holding their long anticipated vote for the Lisbon Treaty. Over the last several months, this pivotal vote was considered as the last significant vote, as Ireland was considered to be the "last holdout". Ireland is the only one of the EU's 27 member states to pit the treaty to a referendum. The vote is today and the counting begins Saturday, with results expected Saturday afternoon.

Apart from Ireland, the only remaining countries yet to ratify Lisbon are the Czech Republic and Poland.


2. "Tony Blair to head the EU within weeks". In another story, we see more speculation that Tony Blair will be named as the President of the EU. Quotes:

"Tony Blair is set to be made the first President of Europe in weeks, the Sun can reveal. He will be nominated by EU leaders in Brussels if, as expected, Ireland backs the hated Lisbon Treaty in tomorrows referendum."

"A senior Government source said: 'If we get a YES vote it will all move very very quickly. Tony could be named by the end of October. The leaders of the EU's 27 nations, not the voters, will chose the president."

"Even if Ireland votes 'Yes", Poland and the Czech Republic are still to decide. But Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency, wants a president named by the end of this month - and Mr Blair is the favorite."

This Lisbon Treaty is yet another stepping stone for a leader to emerge from the revived "Roman Empire" - a leader who will become known as the biblical antichrist. I don't think it is a given that the "President" will become the antichrist by any means (although it is an obvious possibility). The antichrist could be a figure who is yet to emerge, he could end up having the foreign policy position which will also be created, or he could come from an entirely obscure position within the EU. There is no way of knowing.

However, for quite obvious reasons, the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty is potentially of great prophetic significance.

As previously mentioned, this fall is turning out to be very very interesting as a prophecy watcher.

Earthquakes: Update

The second of two "major" earthquakes that have occurred this week, the one in Indonesia which was measured as 7.6 may be the worst. Apparently there are thousands of people trapped under rubble from the destructive force of the quake. We need to pray for these people. The death toll will most likely rise significantly as bodies are found under the buildings and homes which collapsed.

An interesting and ominous article was published yesterday, which described how major earthquakes can weaken seismic faults on the other side of the world. "Major quakes can weaken seismic faults far away, scientists say".

Quotes:

"The study, published by the British weekly science journal Nature, provides compelling support for a novel theory that very big quakes can have a cascade effect elsewhere, sometimes months afterwards, say the researchers."

"This hypothesis appears to be supported by the unusually high number of quakes of magnitude eight or above occurring in the three years after the 2004 event, it said."

In other words, large earthquakes tend to trigger additional earthquakes in other parts of the world, in a "cascade" effect.

The earthquake story, just like all of the "birth pains" signs that we see, will increase in frequency and severity from now throughout the Tribulation. The detailed descriptions of the Tribulation, as found in the book of Revelation, describes great earthquakes, the largest of which occurs at the final stages of the Tribulation, just before the Second Advent:

"The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne saying, "It is done! Then there came flashes of lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the the cup filled the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every Island fled away and the mountains could not be found." (Revelation 16:17-20).

Earthquakes will continue to increase; its one of the signs of our times.