On Friday, September 23, 2011 Palestinian Arab leader Mahmoud Abbas submitted a measure for vote in the United Nations Security Council for a Palestinian state with the borders outlined by for the Arab residents of the holy land by the United Nations. Before 1967 these areas the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights were under the control of neighbouring Arab countries Jordan, Egypt and Syria not a Palestinian state although they also weren't part of Israel. However for about 1500 years from about 1400 BC to 70 AD all these lands except perhaps the Gaza Strip were part of the land of Israel under the Jews in fulfillment of the everlasting covenant the Creator God made with them for this land through their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Genesis 12, 26 and 28 etc in God's word the Holy Bible. This Palestinian Arab intiative was opposed by United States and the European Union mostly because they both wanted a settlement of the Middle East crisis through negotiation with Israel and the Palestinian Arabs rather than a unilateral initiative by the Palestinian Arabs. This initiative has enough votes to pass in the General Assembly through votes from Muslim countries and other countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America and some from Europe. However it will likely be vetoed by Barack Obama in the Security Council which would halt its being passed and realized. This is because Barack Obama doesn't want a unilateral solution to the Middle East crises and because he is under pressure from the Republicans in the US for the upcoming federal election that he has been too supportive of the Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian crises. Presently the west after failing to stop Mahmoud Abbas from putting forward an initiative in the Security Council for full UN membership of a Palestinian state are pledging to try to delay the actual vote in the Security Council or General Assembly until Israel and the Palestinians can get a negotiated settlement. From a biblical Christian viewpoint this renewed momentum regarding the Middle East peace process could soon lead to a agreement initiated by the Antichrist of Beast out of the Sea or Man of Sin that would give something of the Holy land to the Palestinians but would provide at least some access to the Jews to the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem even though this is included in the area of what is called East Jerusalem that the Palestinian Arabs want for the capital of a Palestinian state. This agreement of the Antichrist with Israel to allow the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount will start the 7 year tribulation in which Satan will rule through the Antichrist or Beast out of the Sea (and through the False Prophet or Beast out of the Land). Just before this covenant or treaty with the Antichrist and Israel their will be the rapture or catching up to heaven of all true Christians who have trusted in our hearts that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross and rose again to give us new life. At the end of the tribulation the Lord Jesus Christ will come and judge the world and bring the Antichrist and False Prophet to the lake of fire. Jesus will then also set up God's kingdom on earth reigning through Jerusalem, Israel and the Jewish people as well as the true Church. The most part of God's curse on nature will also be then removed. This millennial or messianic kingdom will be followed by the eternal age. I would therefore encourage the reader to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour so you can be caught up to heaven at the rapture of the church when that happens soon as well as immediately have eternal life and a relationship with God and an assured home in heaven for eternity. We have to admit we are sinners and can't save ourselves and that the Lord Jesus died for our sins and rose again in our heart as well as our head.
Despite all the fanfare and the attempts of the US and the EU to block attempts by the Palestinians led by Mahmoud Abbas to table a motion to vote on full UN membership for a Palestinian state it seems things are back to usual now. This is because the attempt for UN membership in the security council by the Palestinian ARabs has been put to a committee of the security council and so far the Palestinians only have 6 sure votes out of a total of 15 and they need 9 to pass the motion with no vetoes. However there are no vetoes in the committees of the security council just in the security council and its votes itself. This shifting of the Palestinian UN membership attempt to committee could be bogged down there for quite a while or it could soon provide a basis for the antichrist to bring forward the false peace with Israel and other parties mentioned in Daniel 9:27 that will start the tribulation and allow Israel to build their 3rd temple on the Temple Mount. Meanwhile there have been attempts by the Americans and Europeans to restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs but there is a strong difference for what the starting point should be with the Palestinian Arabs wanting Israel to first stop all settlement building in the West Bank (Judaea and Samaria) and Israel wants no preconditions. There is also talk that a priority to start with for the Palestinian Arabs is that Israel recognize the pre-1967 borders of the Arab portion of the holy land and on Israel's part that the Palestinian Arabs recognize Israel itself as a Jewish state. So far neither side wants to budge on their established positions. Also the US Congress threatened before the Palestinian attempt at full UN membership that the US would cut off some funding to the Palestinians if they attempted to get the UN security council to approve a Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders. Now that the Palestinians have attempted to do that but not succeeded yet in having a vote on it the US is backtracking on cuttng off funding to the Palestinians. The world powers still very much want and are pushing for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab conflict but this will not succeed according to the Bible until the false peace of the Antichrist with Israel (and the Arabs). I still believe that that is soon and would still encourage anyone who hasn't done so already to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ that he died for your sins and rose again and receive his as your personal Lord and Saviour so you can be caught up to heaven and not have to endure being left behind for the tribulation.
On Tuesday, October 18, 2011 their was a major prisoner exchange between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip. Altogether Israel will release over 1000 Islamic militants in exchange for Israel soldier Gilad Shalit. German chancellor Angela Merkel had been working on this deal for several years but wasn't successful before but mediation by Egypt has helped achieve a successful deal although at a heavy cost to Isreal. On October 18 about 470 Palestinian Arab prisoners in Israel were released to go to the Gaza Strip, the WEst Bank or other places. These prisoners had been found guilty of killing Israeli soldiers or civilians or plotting in terrorist acts in Israel. They were primarily militants associated with the Islamic militant group Hamas. Gilad Shalit was an Israeli soldier on guard duty in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip that was kidnapped in 2006 by Hamas militants that took him captive into Gaza and help him in captivity until October 2011. Soon another about 550 Hamas militants will be released by Israel. One reason Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu was willing to go through with paying such a high price for the release of one Israeli soldier is that he had the support of much of the Israeli public because Israel has a policy to do whatever is possible to bring their soldier captured or left behind in was back hopefully alive and well. Most Israelis support this policy because a couple years of service is mandatory for most Israelis male and female so most Israelis can identify with the dilemna of captured soldiers like Gilad Shalit. Now that he had been returned to Israel as well as the first batch of the Hamas militants to their homes or destinations it will be interesting to see what happens next. Israel had probably restrained their actions against Hamas since 2006 because they didn't want torture, harm or death to happen to Gilad Shalit by his Hamas captors. Hamas and their sympathizers might have held off more severe action against Israel until they got their imprisoned militants back. Although Israel has said they want to live in peace they have said that any of these militants that again attack Israel can expect little mercy. Hamas has said they want their other militants freed as well without any promise for security for Israel including further acts from these militants. Some of the Hamas sympathizers said on the day of the prisoner exchange we want more Gilad Shalits. However their are some more moderate Arabs in the West Bank, Gaza and elsewhere that voiced their hopes this might encourage peace between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. I do not know what will happen next or in the immediate future but as a biblical Christian I believe that this prisoner exchange will likely make things one step closer to the false peace between Israel and the Antichrist that will probably involve a false peace between Israel on one side and the Palestinians and other Arabs and Muslims on the other. According to the Bible this false peace will allow for the building of the third Jewish temple on the temple mount that the Jews will first use for their Levitical worship of God but that will be usurped by the Antichrist for world worship of himself in the second half of the tribulation. This restored temple worship in the first half of the tribulation will also prepare the Jews and the world for worship of the true Messiah Jesus of Nazareth in the Millennial or Messianic Kingdom after Jesus' second coming to earth. Before the revelation of the antichrist and beginning of the tribulation and any time at the end of this age will be the rapture or catching up to heaven of all true Christians who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ that he died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us new life. I urge the reader to do this for him or her self as soon as possible if you haven't done so already not only so you can take part in the rapture and avoid the tribulation but also so you can have eternal life with God, the Lord Jesus Christ and all his people of all ages.
In the beginning of November 2011 there was a vote in the United Nations over whether to include the Palestinian Territories into the United Nations organization Unesco. Unesco stands for United Nations Education and Science Cultural Organization. Only a majority vote is required to pass this motion and there are no vetos. The result was that there were just over 100 nations approving the motion and 52 abstentions and 14 against so it passed. The Palestinian Arabs have made it their aim to apply to United Nations organizations like Unesco after it became clear there wouldn't be an immediate vote on their application for full United Nations membership and that when there was the United Nations would use their veto in the security council where an application for full membership would have to be passed first. There are no votes in the security council and no vetos for applications to mere United Nations component organizations such as Unesco. Another reason inclusion in Unesco is probably significant for the Palestinian territories is because Unesco is a main United Nations body responsible for the designating of world historic or cultural sites. The Palestinians might plan to use their membership in this organization to mark important Jewish sites such as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron or even the tomb or Rachel in Bethelehem with sites with non-Jewish Muslim significance which would deny some of the Jewish claim to Jerusalem or the West Bank that the Jews call Judaea and Samaria and which was part of the land that the Jews inhabited in under God's covenant with them in Bible days and that God still has intended for the Jews. A main reason the United Nations and some other Western nations like Canada have responded negatively to the Palestinian Arab inclusion in Unesco is because they see this move as bypassing the Middle East peace process with Israel and as the Palestinian Arabs trying to achieve a Palestinian state in the West Bank at their own initiative or unilaterally which also means they wouldn't have to offer Israel anything in return such as security or recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Although most nations approved of the Palestinian ARabs inclusion in Unesco it should be recognized that many of these nations are Muslim or otherwise don't recognize Israel as the continuation of the nation of Israel in the Bible with their covenant with God for this land or they only recognize the territory given to Israel under the United Nations and secular what is called international law that allows for the state of Israel itself to the Jews but not the West Bank or East Jerusalem (or the Gaza Strip or the Golan Heights). As a Bible believing Christian I believe Israel under the covenant with God through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has a right to all the land between the Jordan and Mediterranean but that there might be some limitations to God allowing them to get under full possession of that land based on His Covenant with the Jews through Moses called the Mosaic or Palestinian covenant which is based on the Jews faithfulness to the law of Moses which is impossible without a functioning temple and with about 85% of the Jews being secular and from a Christian viewpoint with most Jews not recognizing Jesus as their Messiah. What will be happening next politically is that probably in the first half of November this year (2011) there will be vote in the United Nations on whether the Palestinian Arabs can be granted full membership in the United Nations as a full member. If the Palestinian Arabs can't get at least 9 of the 15 votes there and keep United States or any other permanent member from vetoing it the goal of getting the Palestinian territories as a full United Nations member will be dead at least for the time being. However it is not clear to me whether the Palestinian Arabs could still chip away at Israel to try to get Palestinian Arab membership in other United Nations member organizations like they have already become part of Unesco as membership in these organizations also don't require votes in the UN Security Council. From a Bible prophecy viewpoint I think these events are putting Israel's and the Jews' back against the wall regarding the rest of the world ever more and are setting the stage for the Jews to be ripe for the covenant that will be offered to them in a false peace by the Antichrist who could pose himself as a false Messiah. He will offer permission for the Jews to build their third temple on the temple mount in Jerusalem and perhaps security or some other things the Jews would appreciate. However immediately before that will be the rapture of catching up to heaven of all true Christians so God can deal through His chosen earthly people the Jews in the tribulation instead. These things also mean that Jesus' second coming at the end of the tribulation and his then judging the world and setting up God's kingdom to rule through the nation of Israel and the Jews as well as the true Church are getting sooner. Therefore I would encourage the reader to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ that what God says about us that we are all sinners according to God in his word the Holy Bible and that we can be justified with God only through the gift of his perfect righteousness through the perfect sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ so you can not only have eternal life but also be taken to heaven in the rapture and escape having to endure the tribulation on earth.
In mid-February 2012 Moshe Feiglin, who recently came in second in a leadership contest with the Likud Party of which Benjamin Netanyahu is leader, was denied access to the Temple Mount. Mr. Feiglin apparently is in the habit of visiting the Temple Mount once a month around the middle of the month. As a Bible believing Christian I see nothing wrong with that but rather something to be encouraged especially in view of the coming Messianic Kingdom Temple where Jesus the Messiah will rule the world from after his second coming. However the temple will be usurped by the Anti-christ or Beast out of the sea in the second half of the tribulation first. Anyway the reason Mr. Feiglin was denied access to the Temple Mount was because posters had circulated around Jerusalem, especially the Old City, that he was involved with a group that wanted "to build the third temple on the ruins of the mosques" on the Temple Mount. This was seen by the Jerusalem and temple police as well as the Muslims as provocative (although I'm sure worse things from the other side are regularly said from Muslim preachers from the mosques on the Temple Mount about taking over all of Jerusalem and Israel by the Muslims and not much is done about that.) There have also been rumours circulating among the Muslims that the Jews have a plan to force sharing of some of the temple mount to make way for a Jewish temple there or to share some of the Muslim mosques for Jewish worship as is currently done at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Due to these things and perhaps other things there were riots and unrest by Muslims including on the Temple Mount a number of days in the second half of February. This usually involved Muslims throwing stones and sometimes shoes at Israeli Temple police and Jews or Christian tourists who ascended the Temple Mount. There was probably verbal abuse too. Some of these Muslim radicals have been arrested. Also there was a raid in the Old City of homes of some Jews that police suspected of making or preparing the posters that caused this unrest. There could have been arrests in this action also. Police are trying to restore order and resume allowing Jews, Christians and Muslims to the Temple Mount but near the end of February things might not have totally settled down yet. Most of this information was obtained from the Temple Institute web site at www.templeinstitute.org on their news web page although these events were also mentioned on the Jerusalem Post and BBC web sites. I don't know if things will settle down for a while or remain tense even until the revelation of the antichrist to make the agreement with the Jews to build their third temple on the temple mount that will begin the tribulation according to Daniel 9:27. The antichrist will have a lot more charisma and will probably offer something to the Muslims such as territory in the west bank or Judaea and Samaria that will bring them onside to this treaty or covenant. Immediately before that covenant all true Christians who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ that we are sinners who can't save ourselves according to God's definition of sin in His Word the Holy Bible and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ that he died for all our sins and rose from the dead to give us new life will be raptured or caught up to heaven so God can primarily again work through the Jews his chosen earthly people in the tribulation and Millennial Kingdom on earth. However the true Church will come back with Jesus from heaven at his second coming at the end of the tribulation to reign with him. I would urge the reader to likewise trust in Jesus so you won't be left behind on earth for earth's darkest hour in the tribulation.
According to the Jerusalem Post a process that began a couple months ago when there started to be more fighting in Syria was pretty well complete by late February 2012. This was the evacuation of the leadership of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas from their headquarters in Damascus Syria. This was done due to increasing displeasure with the protesters in Syria and some people in Lebanon and especially the Gaza Strip and perhaps West Bank with the perceived alliance of Hamas with the government of Bashar Assad in Syria. There was displeasure with Hamas especially because of the cold-blooded killing and wounding of many people including women and children and other civilians in Syria by the forces of Bashar Assad the long term dictator of Syria. Another fact that was considered in the dissatisfaction of many Arabs with the leadership of Bashar Assad and Hamas' continued alliance with them was that Bashar Assad and other leading people in his government are part of the minority Alawaite tribe that is mostly Shiite while the majority of the population in Syria and the Arab world is Sunni and their continues to be significant animosity and distrust between the two. Part of the Arab world that is mostly Sunni are the Arabs in the holy land including the Gaza STrip and the West Bank that Hamas rules or would seek to rule. Hamas has now moved their leadership to Egypt probably mostly Cairo the capital and to the Persian gulf country of Qatar. This will be much easier to justify for Hamas with mostly Sunni muslims in power in Egypt anyway that are mostly hardline ones since the revolution there and following elections that gave about 40% of the vote in parliament to the Muslim brotherhood and just over 20% to the even more extreme Muslim Salafist sect. Hamas was originally and offshoot of the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt and have retained close ties so this location in Egypt will probably work well for them. The Muslim brotherhood is one group spearheading the opposition to Bashar Assad in Syria so staying in Damascus and continuing to back Assad would have been quite difficult for Hamas for that reason as well. However this might make things worse for Israel as Hamas will now probably use its position to try to break the peace treaty of Eygpt with Israel or to smuggle more weapons into the Gaza Strip or carry out attacks on the Israeli part of the Sinai or sabotage Egypt's natural gas and perhaps oil pipelines to Israel etc. This could lead to it being even more necessary for the antichrist or beast out of the sea or man of sin to come on the scene to establish a false middle east peace between Israel and its Arab and mostly Muslim neighbours. This false peace will involve allowing the Jews in Israel to build their third Jewish temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This temple will prepare the Jews and the nations for the worship of God and Messiah Jesus in the Millennial Kingdom but set them up to receive the antichrist as the false messiah before that. Since these things are near I would encourage the reader if he or she hasn't done so already to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ that he died on the cross for your sins and on the third day after rose from the dead to give us new life so you can have a relationship with God through Jesus, forgiveness of all your sins and the assurance you can have a blessed life in heaven and the new earth and new Jerusalem with God, Jesus and His people of all nations throughout eternity and on the more immediate horizon be taken in the rapture of catching up to heaven of the church so you won't have to endure the horrors of the tribulation on earth.
Although many people still vilify former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, he was a more helpful to Israel than the current interim leadership in Egypt or the likely future leadership there that will likely be controlled by fundamentalist Muslims especially the Muslim Brotherhood. One way that Egypt was helpful to Israel before was to be dependable to export significant amounts of natural gas from Egyptian fields through the Sinai peninsula to Israel. Egypt also was able to better guard the pipeline under Hosni Mubarak from sabotage. Since the fall of Hosni Mubarak there have been 14 significant incidents of sabotage of this pipeline probably especially by Islamic militants that are operating more freely in the Sinai peninsula since the fall of Mubarak. The problem is that natural gas is the main source of energy for Israel and the imports from Egypt represent either 40% of total Israeli energy use or 40% of Israeli natural gas use. That has now been stopped and at least for the immediate future Israel will be short of energy and prices will probably increase. Two main reasons why much of the Egyptian public resented shipping its natural gas to Israel are because it is a Jewish state and was perceived not to compromise with the wishes of the Palestinian Arabs for more land in the holy land and because it was perceived in Egypt that Egypt was getting a fair price for its natural gas. I read about these matters recently in an article on the Jerusalem Post web site. Israel has discovered some natural gas and oil off its coast but so far hasn't developed it but I'm not sure how soon it will be able to do that and how long they can use those fields to meet their demand. Israel might also have to look into other sources of energy as most of its other Muslim neighbours would probably not be too willing to provide it with oil or natural gas. This could all lead to some elements of the false peace soon with Israel and the Antichrist and likely the Arabs or other Muslim countries and western world powers mentioned in Daniel 9:27 that will also involve an agreement with the Antichrist to cooperate with Israel to allow the building of the third Jewish temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This will begin the seven year tribulation which will be immediately preceded by the catching up or rapture to heaven of all true Christians who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ that he died for our sins on the cross and rose again to give us new life and a relationship with God. I would encourage the reader to also trust in Jesus if you haven't already so you can be part of God's heavenly people the church and be spared the tribulation and come with Jesus at the end of the tribulation from heaven to reign on earth in His kingdom.
Although the previous Kadima leader Tzipi Livni and the current Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz said they wouldn't join a coalition party lead by Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud Party recent polls in Israel saying that the Kadima party might lose half their seats in an election soon might have persuaded their present leader Shaul Mofaz to bring his party into the ruling coalition. This will give Netanyahu's coalition 94 out of 120 seats in the government and one of the most completely representative coalitions in the history of modern Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu made agreement with Mr. Mofaz in what effort should be made about a peace process with the Palestinian Arabs and about negotiations with Iran about their nuclear program. Mr. Mofaz was given a deputy prime minister position within Mr. Netanyahu's cabinet. Kadima members will also be allowed to oversee committes in foreign affairs and defence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also agreed with Mr. Mofaz that some changes should be made to Israel's Tal Law that allows ultra-orthodox yeshiva students to delay military service. These concessions or possible concessions to the centrist Kadima party could indicate a shift to more secular values and away from more conservative or in Israel's case more biblical Jewish values. This could encourage ultra-orthodox or nationalist parties in Mr. Netanyahu's coalition to leave for the opposition.
In mid July Shaul Mofaz took his Kadima Party out of Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Israel. Although Kadima will now not be able to take a primary part in foreign policy decisions in Syria and Iran etc. Mr. Mofaz seems contact to act from the opposition. He states in the Jerusalem Post that standing by his principles which he believes Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu wouldn't accept was more important. The critical point was that Mr. Mofaz believed that Benjamin Netanyahu wouldn't compromise enough with the Tal law to try to bring Ultra-orthodox Jews as well as Arabs into Israeli military service. Mr. Mofaz probably didn't want to acknowledge that Mr. Netanyahu was also responsible to consider the interests of the Ultra-orthodox Jews as they are significantly represented in his coalition by the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties which are earlier members of Mr. Netanyahu's coalition although neither of these parties has as many seats as Kadima. In the report in the Jerusalem Post Mr. Mofaz stated that the purpose of Kadima joining Mr. Netanyahu's coalition was to advance their agenda. According to the Jerusalem POst these featured broader representation in the Israeli armed forces (IDF), passing a budget to help out poorer Israelis, steadying the election system and promoting peace with the Palestinians. The latter is something that Mr. Mofaz also thought Mr. Netanyahu didn't budge enough on. However it is hard for me to sympathize with him with Palestinian ARab leader Mahmoud Abbas unwavering insisting on Israel totally stopping all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a pre-condition for peace talks whereas before those were supposed to be an item that would be dealt with later with some tradeoffs with better security for Israel or other items that would benefit Israel. It will be interested however now to see what Mr. Netanyahu does with Kadima no longer in the coalition with the Tal law or Syria or Iran or any pressure to restart the peace process.
Contact Doug at Spirit and Truth Ministries