Natural Disasters … Questions of Correlation

This week’s article will examine some remarkable prophetic anniversaries taking place in 2017 which is the Jewish calendar year 5777-5778. But first, we’ll look at some startling time-proximity correlations between catastrophes in the United States and America’s political strategies (to bring peace to the Middle East) that are contradictory to God’s plan for Israel.

I will begin with a disclaimer: These correlations are not meant to inflexibly state that there is a divine causal connection between the peace conferences and the calamities which occurred within a short time span. Obviously, the implications are yours to make.

Could there be a link? Yes, because Scripture is replete with examples of God using the natural elements he created to supernaturally capture the attention of both Israel and Gentile nations. Such as the ten plagues against Egypt. Or the years of debilitating drought in Israel during Elijah’s time. Through miracles or by the sheer scope of some natural disasters, God periodically intervenes in the affairs of the human race to providentially accomplish his ultimate plan.

As stated in prior Eye of Prophecy articles, this plan has two parts. First: selection and separation of Israel as God’s special possession and the Jews as his chosen people to bring God’s light and truth to the world—specifically through the promised Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Included in this design is return of the Jews to the Promised Land in preparation for Israel’s final redemption; a prelude to establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, headquartered in Jerusalem. Second: to unite Jew and Gentile into one new person through the substitutionary sacrificial death of Jesus to bring personal salvation to all who believe and receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior.

Thus, if individuals and especially entire nations challenge or compromise God’s prophetic purpose for Israel, there will be long-term consequences. But also periodic short-term results possibly related to some specific and unusually severe catastrophes—hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, and droughts. With all the other random or regular disasters a general result of an earth dramatically changed when sin entered the world, and especially with the Great Flood that altered some of the geophysical dynamics of nature … such as rain.

“Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:20-22).

Let’s look at two nation-shaking events in America that have riveted the attention of the entire world in just the past few weeks.

The August 21^st Total Eclipse of the Sun

Did you watch it … with, of course, the proper set of sunglasses? Were you aware of the historical significance of this phenomenal event? Did you know that, in an unprecedented manner, it will happen again in seven years … 2024? Let’s look at some intriguing facts and figures with which you may not be familiar.

It’s the first total eclipse of the sun that cut a (diagonal) path across the continental United States since 1918, ninety-nine years ago.

Total darkness enveloped a swath across the country that consisted of a few dozen miles in width; the eclipse began mid-morning in Oregon then progressed on a southeasterly path ending in South Carolina. In 2024 the same thing will occur, but it will be a southwest to northeast path that will move toward the Atlantic states. The most centralized point where the 2024 eclipse will intersect with the 2017 eclipse (marking it with an “X”) is an area in southern Illinois known as, “Little Egypt.” This name came about in the mid-19^th century due to a famine in northern Illinois, which drove the residents to southern Illinois to seek food, much like Jacob and his family moved to Egypt where Jacob’s long-lost son Joseph saved them from starvation. But then Egypt became the object of God’s wrath because the Egyptians had forgotten all about his rescuing them through Joseph.

The composite land mass in which the intersecting “X” of these two eclipses conceals parts of Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky is approximately 9,000 square miles—very similar to size of New Jersey. Which is the state that is closest in land mass to Israel! (See Eye of Prophecy article, United Nations Downsizing of Israel … Resolution 2334, posted 1-7-17).

What comes to mind is the next-to-last (9^th) plague that God inflicted on the Egyptians; one of total darkness for three days, “…so thick you (the Egyptians) can feel it” (Exodus 10:21). “…But there was light as usual where the people of Israel lived” (Verse 23).

There’s another horrific darkness soon to come. Read with me:

“Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. His subjects ground their teeth in anguish, and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God” (Revelation 16:10-11).

Speaking of correlations, this is the fifth bowl judgement, one of several that is levied exclusively against Antichrist and his followers … the 19^th of twenty-one calamities (seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls). Which makes it mathematically equivalent to the 9^th plague against Egypt (both periods of intense darkness are 90% through the total number of plagues/judgments).

The Number Four Hundred

A recent Eye of Prophecy article entitled, Countdown to Armageddon … End of the Fourth 400-Year Era, posted 7-29-17, explains the significance of the number four in both Scripture and the universe, with added emphasis on the Biblical factors of forty and especially four hundred. Beginning with the 400-year Hebrew enslavement to the Egyptians which had been foretold by God to Abraham.

On August 22^nd, the day after the eclipse, an article—one of many articles from several sources on the subject of the eclipse, both before and after it occurred—was posted in the online news source Aish.com entitled, The Next Solar Eclipse in 2014: A Startling Message for the World, written by Rabbi Benjamin Blech. Interestingly, he referred to that same prophecy to Abraham. The following excerpt from Rabbi Blech’s column provides more intriguing insight on the number 400, in the context of the 2024 eclipse crossing the August eclipse in Little Egypt:

“There is an all-important number associated with the Torah account of the Egyptian exile. It was a prophecy to Abraham that God informed our patriarch of the time that would first bring darkness to his descendants: ‘You shall surely know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and oppress them for 400 years’ (Genesis 15:13).

“A solar eclipse is predicated on that very number. The sun, as the Bible told us, is larger than the moon… (Genesis 1:15). To be exact we know that the sun is exactly 400 times larger than the moon. How is it possible for the moon, so much smaller, to cover the sun to our eyes in an eclipse? That is because the sun is also 400 times further from us than the moon—a relationship of distance exactly parallel to that of size!”

Another article grabbed my attention (not related to the eclipse) on the subject of the epic 400-year eras. The article written by Yoram Ettinger, published in the online news source Israel Hayom on August 25, 2017 was entitled: 400 years of special affinity. Ettinger’s underlying theme was that the recent incident at Charlottesville, North Carolina involving “Nazi-saluting white supremacists” did not represent American values. He states:

“These episodes defy the civic, moral and religious foundations of the U.S. … which have demonstrated high esteem for Judaism from the era of the Pilgrims through the Founding Fathers until today.”

The final paragraph of Ettinger’s post corresponds to the aforementioned Eye of Prophecy article:

“While there is only one Hebron in the land of Israel—King David’s first capital—there are 18 Hebrons in the U.S., among the thousands of locations in the U.S. bearing biblical names. This reflects the state of mind of the early colonists and the Founding Fathers, who considered themselves to be ‘the modern-day chosen people’ and viewed the New World as ‘the modern-day Promised Land.’ They established the 400-year old foundation for the special affinity of the American people for the Jewish state and for America’s high esteem for the Old Testament, which dwarf the significance of supremacists and any other form of anti-Israel or anti-Semitic sentiments.”

Here is an excerpt from Countdown to Armageddon … End of the Fourth 400-Year Era (in italics):

At the outset of this week’s article, it occurred to me that there very well could be a final span of 400 years that would track with the generational prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 24 (based on two Biblical definitions of a generation … 100 years and 70 years), ending somewhere close to the year 2020….

For that to be even a possibility, I would need to backtrack 400 years to determine if there was a huge milestone event that dramatically impacted human history.

There is such an event! It would certainly qualify as historic, something that billions of people know or have heard about, although not necessarily when it took place. It came after 1,000 plus years of spiritual darkness (Dark Ages) in what scholars commonly call Christendom, in which the Bible was available only to the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. One result of that Biblical illiteracy was widespread persecution of Jews all over the world, not the least of which was perpetrated by the massively misguided and doctrinally deprived Crusaders, as well as the Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church.

Do you know what that exceptional episode was?

Answer: The King James Bible!

This next portion of the excerpt tracks with the above quoted portion of Yoram Ettinger’s article:

If you prefer, as an alternative (same basic time frame), the beginning of the 400 years also could be attributed to when America got its historical start with the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock in 1620, nine years after the King James Bible was introduced. Our forefathers firmly believed that America was the promised land of a new nation, akin to the original and still-standing Promised Land of Israel.

In the closing remarks of the Countdown to Armageddon… article I wrote:

The more I wrote, then edited, this week’s article, the more I’m convinced that we are at the end of the fourth and final (remember the significance of the number four in terms of completeness, continuity, and finality) 400-years of this age of human history. Regarding the historical impact, the King James Bible was one of the biggest events of all time. The written Word of God became accessible to millions more than before, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ began to spread exponentially.

The Solar Eclipse & Hurricane Harvey

Texans, especially in Houston, are still digging and drying out from one of the most devastating natural disasters in our country’s history. Not so much in loss of life (thankfully) compared to other huge storms, but in the mind-boggling Biblical proportions of rain and the sheer expanse of the flooding, along with what could be the largest economic cost/loss of all time.

(Downtown Houston, Texas)

Most Jewish Rabbis place as much weight on the Talmud—a written collection of oral traditions, commentaries, and interpretations of the Hebrew Scriptures—as they do on the Old Testament itself. Although I certainly have not read the entire Talmud (a huge task), I have read quite a few excerpts from and commentaries on select sections. Many portions of the Talmud accurately (even profoundly) analyze the Old Testament; others do not. Meaning there is nothing in Scripture to support some of the Talmudic conclusions or applications, or make a convincing correlation between the commentary and the Bible itself.

Thus, concerning the possible connection between the solar eclipse and Hurricane Harvey, I would recommend that you consider placing the following statement from the aforementioned article written by Rabbi Benjamin Blech more in the context of the opening remarks in today’s Eye of Prophecy article. Keep in mind that Blech’s article was written after the eclipse but before Harvey struck Texas and Louisiana.

“The relationship between the sun and the moon and the years predicted for the Egyptian exile share the number 400 so that we be attentive to a powerful divine message. An eclipse, the Talmud teaches us, is a heavenly sign. An eclipse of the moon, the rabbis tell us, is a bad omen for the Jewish people, an eclipse of the sun is a bad sign for the non-Jewish world. I dare to suggest that an eclipse across the continental United States of America linked to Little Egypt may well serve as a warning of the darkening of the American Spirit….”

He then references Time Magazine headlines immediately after the Charlottesville incident (that Yoram Ettinger also cited as seen in excerpts from his article): “Hatred Across America.”

Although there could be a connection between the August 21^st Solar Eclipse and Hurricane Harvey which struck on August 25-26^th, I believe there is the stronger probability of an association between Harvey and the very latest U.S. delegation to Israel. For example, the total eclipse in the United States of 1918 could be considered a good sign, as World War I was coming to an end, and it followed soon after the Balfour Declaration of 1917. Also, Israel experienced a significant eclipse of the moon in early August of this year with no dramatic or traumatic time-proximity events in Israel.

Correlations between Hurricanes in America and U.S. Interference with Israel’s Sovereignty

First, it’s vital to realize and remember that the United States, far beyond any other nation on earth, has by and large supported Israel—spiritually (Christian Zionists), culturally and economically (millions of American tourists to Israel and aid to Israel), and militarily (equipment including the most sophisticated fighter jets). But not always politically, which more than anything else can affect international relationships and the destiny of some nations.

This is especially true regarding America’s pervasive political ignorance of the Biblical God-given mandate that all of Jerusalem, all of Judea/Samaria, all of the Gaza Strip … all of Israel belong to the Lord’s chosen people. The single biggest error that this country has made is to harbor the same unbiblical narrative of Israel’s enemies; that many of the Jews living in the so-called West Bank, which includes (according to the Palestinians) the eastern part of Jerusalem are “illegal settlers.” Or that Jews are “occupiers.”

Paraphrasing my commentary responses in some previous Eye of Prophecy articles: Occupiers of what? Palestine? There is no such thing as Palestine. There is only Israel. How, then, can Jews occupy—in the negative connotation of the word—their own land?

In fact, I ‘m going to state this Biblically based premise more emphatically than phrased in prior articles (in italics for emphasis): Nor will there ever be a Palestinian State in perpetuity; whether God divinely prohibits it outright, or whether he allows such a state to be established for only a few years just before or during the Great Tribulation.

Over the years, I’ve read several articles that noted an astonishing link between natural disasters in the United States that occurred very soon after our executive staff attempted to impose conditions and restrictions on the Israeli government with regard to settlements and internal boundaries that were artificially and ambiguously assigned to Israel (through international pressure) despite the fact that Israel won the 1948 and 1967 wars against Arab nations.

Not long after his book Eye to Eye – Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel was published in 2004, I met William (Bill) Koenig at a prophecy conference held in Phoenix, Arizona.

He was born in Phoenix, Arizona but has lived much of his life in Washington D.C. serving as a White House news correspondent and consultant. His wife, Claudia, was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. I’m sure she is even more saddened by Hurricane Harvey’s devastation for that reason. She, too, was at the conference and opened it with one of the most heart-felt unpretentious powerful public prayers I’ve ever heard. She truly is a prayer warrior. I can relate to Bill Koenig because he, too, is an avid student of the Bible and of the Middle East. He loves Israel, as do I.

If memory serves, he was one of the first (if not the first) to make these startling correlations between huge natural disasters in America and peace conferences—involving the United States, Israel, the Palestinians, and other nations—that were held in close time-proximity to those catastrophes … the biggest of which was Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The above referenced book that he wrote was revised and updated in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.

At that same conference, I also met and spoke with well-known author and expert on Israel and Biblical prophecy, Randall Price. I purchased a copy of Randall’s latest book, but by the time I got to Koenig’s book, the supply was gone. For whatever reason that is hidden away under these gray hairs of mine, I never followed up on obtaining a copy of his book; however, I have read some commentaries on the book.

(Left … Former Governor Mike Huckabee with Claudia & Bill Koenig)

For purpose of today’s article, I’ll provide a couple of excerpts from a Breaking News Israel column written Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, posted August 28^th. His article tracks with William Koenig’s books and articles on the subject and very likely was based on Koenig’s book, others who had read his book, or perhaps a few rabbis who have made similar observations.

Wrote Berkowitz: “Hurricane Harvey, described as the ‘worst disaster’ in Texan history, fits into a troubling pattern of natural disasters striking America at times when the country’s leadership is attempting to push Israel into negotiating with its Palestinian neighbors for a peaceful two-state solution involving Israeli concessions….

“The storm coincided with the Trump Administration’s Middle East negotiating team, led by Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt visiting the region in yet another attempt to jump-start peace talks. The devastation of Hurricane Harvey thus follows a long line of natural disasters that have accompanied the anti-Israel political process of negotiating with the Palestinians.”

Berkowitz then itemized previous natural disasters eerily coinciding with ill-advised and ill-fated efforts to achieve an elusive peace which requires the Jews to give up precious Israeli land.

As commentary to his article, I will add the following in italics for emphasis. Palestinians demand for more land is made without any willingness to stop attacking Israelis or to recognize Israel as a sovereign state in the family of nations.

In addition to Hurricane Harvey, Berkowitz goes on to identify the following incidents. Some of the wording/elaboration is my own, as I’m only summarizing, not quoting him verbatim at this point:

• On October 31^st, the day after President George H.W. Bush signed the Madrid Peace Agreement, the full force of a hurricane labeled, The Perfect Storm (also called the No-Name Storm) hit the east coast of the United States, destroying Bush’s house in Kennebunkport, Maine. Who hasn’t seen the movie of the same name, starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg, released in 2000?
• Attempted implementation of the Madrid Peace Conference agreements (land for peace in Israel) intensified when the Madrid Conference continued in Washington D.C. on August 23, 1992. The very next day, Hurricane Andrew, the worst (still) natural disaster in America’s history ravaged Florida.
• Georges, a category 4 hurricane, pummeled the Gulf Coast in 1998 causing $10 billion in damages and killing 604 people. Just a few days before that, Secretary of State Madeline Albright announced an American-sponsored deal requiring Israel to relinquish 13 percent of Judea and Samaria.
• Less than one month later when PLO President Yasser Arafat met with the Israeli Prime Minister to further discuss the “agreement” brokered by the United States, Hurricane Madeline tore into the coast of Texas, killing 31 people.
• In August, 2005, Hurricane Katrina relentlessly pounded several Gulf States, with devastating damage and horrific loss of life (nearly 2,000, including 135 classified as missing). Just before that, under intense pressure from the United States, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that every single Jewish resident (about 10,000 in all) of the Gush Katif settlement in the Gaza Strip would be uprooted from their houses and relocated throughout the rest of Israel.

Summary

In recap of this portion of today’s article, I refer you to Eye of Prophecy article: Is President Trump Wavering on the Waiver? Posted 2-4-17. That article was followed by: Trump, Cyrus, and the Jewish Temple (2-18-17). Then more recently: Moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem … a Broken Promise? (6-10-17); written not long after President Trump signed the waiver delaying the US Embassy move for another six months. No different than Presidents William Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama had done twice a year during their administrations.

I was among those willing to give President Trump the benefit of the doubt in postponing his campaign promise to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. That move would have been a literal and symbolic signal that the United States was finally following through on its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital; mandated by the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which the US Senate and House of Representatives passed by a huge margin.

Now, I’m inclined to think that our president’s decision was perhaps more permanent. I hope I’m wrong, but Donald Trump seems determined, albeit with his own distinctive style, to pursue the failed peace path of his predecessors. He is wavering on his statement that either a one state or two state solution would be fine with him—as long as the agreement was negotiated directly between Israel and the Palestinians. He seemingly has switched to the already failed tactics of imposing a peace plan on Israel that would to some extent or another result in Israel’s untenable return to the 1967 or even the 1948 borders that are nothing more than cease-fire boundaries.

Fortunately, Trump is holding serve with regard to his and the U.S. Congress demand that the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stop paying monthly salaries to the families of terrorists killed or imprisoned because they attacked and murdered Israelis. On the other hand, our executive staff appears to be buying in to the twisted Palestinian narrative: to the victors (Israel in its defensive wars against Arab nations) belong little or even less than what they had won in war. And to the defeated belong everything they had to begin with and more (such as dividing Jerusalem into two capitals).

That is no different than what Barack Obama promoted during his presidency.

It needs to be stated once again: Sponsoring a two-state solution at Israel’s expense is both a futile and dangerous path to pursue. No nation will be spared the consequences of unilaterally pushing such a plan.

Listen once again to the true and living God, the God of Israel:

“At the time of those events, says the Lord, when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land” (Joel 3:1-2, italics for emphasis).

When will the Palestinians and nations of the earth who insist on Palestinian statehood ever realize that the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem could be theirs, too; if they only would recognize the right of a Jewish State, with Jerusalem its capital? Down deep, Israeli-Arab citizens of Israel know that they are (far) better off inside a Jewish State. That the Palestinians will never agree, short of civil war, whether Hamas or the Palestinian Authority would govern a Palestinian State. Which doesn’t matter anyway, because neither of these two corrupt regimes will voluntarily agree (this side of the Rapture) to recognize Israel as a sovereign state.

Is there a correlation between the Perfect Storm, Andrew, Georges, Madeline, Katrina, and Harvey and America’s determination to bring peace to the Middle East, which is a noble endeavor? But with an ignoble, unbiblical, and one-sided scheme of forcing Israel into “dividing up my land.”

Whose land? God’s land given to the Jews. The entire earth belongs to the Lord; indeed, the universe. When he says that a tiny area of 9,000 square miles (size of New Jersey) belongs to Israel, then we would do well to keep the Jews where they belong.

(Look Hard to Find Israel!)

Remarkable Anniversaries in 2017

Concerning the matter of Israel’s past, present, and future that Scripture clearly shows will impact world history, there are some remarkable milestone anniversaries in 2017. Although mentioned before in a few Eye of Prophecy articles, they are worth looking at again in the context of what appears to be a pivotal year of end-times prophecy. Here they are, with one more added to the list, which is:

Anniversary (120^th) of the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland on August 29^th, 1897

Organized by Theodor Herzl, who many believe to be the father of Zionism (return of the Jews to Israel) and attended by 200 Jewish and Gentile delegates (including two Christians) from European countries and even from the United States, this milestone event in Israel’s history took place 120 years ago last month.

Taken from an article posted on August 28, 2017 written by the founder of Breaking Israel News, Rabbi Tuly Weisz, including a quote from Theodor Herzl, we read:

“Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word—which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly—it would be this, wrote Herzl in his diary on September 3, 1897. At Basel, I founded the Jewish state. If I said this out loud today I would be greeted by universal laughter. In five years perhaps, and certainly, in 50 years, everyone will perceive it.”

Then Rabbi Weisz writes: “Indeed, in just over 50 years … the Jewish state was established…”

He, of course, was referring to the sovereign State of Israel reborn on May 14, 1948. I would clarify Weisz’ clarification of “just over 50 years” by adding that it was 50 years—if we identify the UN Resolution of November, 1947 as the pivotal point in Israel’s rebirth as a state.

Concerning the significance of 120 years (2017 anniversary of the Basel Conference), where in Scripture do we see this number?

Correct: The lapse of time between God’s instructions for Noah to build an ark to the time when God’s judgment was poured out on a perversely wicked world. The Great Flood was a divine purge of the earth. Scripture tells us explicitly that there will be another (final) mighty judgment of the earth and its inhabitants. Following the flood, God chose Abraham to be the father of a nation set apart for him to be a light to the Gentiles and to bring Messiah to the nations. Could it be that this same time-lapse prototype was also the pattern that began with the first Zionist conference 120 years ago? One that resulted in the building of the ark of refuge for the Jews … the nation of Israel. One that will (soon) end with God’s final cleansing of the earth.

Anniversary (100^th) of the Balfour Declaration of 1917

Near the end of World War I, Great Britain seized control of “Palestine” from the Ottoman Empire. England’s government approved Lord Balfour’s declaration that the Jews would be afforded the official right to make (a portion of) Palestine their homeland again alongside of the Arabs. The Jews agreed. The Arabs disagreed.

As indicated in Eye of Prophecy article, The Omega Generation (posted 2-15-14) and also the two-part article The Balfour Declaration … Beginning of the Omega Generation (5-13 & 5-20-17), I’m convinced The Balfour Declaration was the beginning of the (100-year) generation foretold by Jesus (see Matthew 24:32-34). It was the first date-dedicated fulfillment of hundreds of Biblical prophesies of the Jewish return to Israel.

The August solar eclipse in America—the Gentile nation Biblically patterned after and representing, not replacing, Israel—(see Eye of Prophecy article, America the Beautiful Is Getting Ugly, posted July, 2016) occurred 100 years, rounding it off, after the last total eclipse.

Anniversary (70^th) of November, 1947 United Nations Resolution

This time not just Great Britain, but the newly formed United Nations voted statehood rights to Israel and to the Arabs.

Same thing happened. The Jews accepted. The Arabs refused.

(Map to the Right–The “Seizure” by Israel Was a Direct Result of Defending Herself From Arab Attacks in Two Wars. Also, the Black Dot Representing Jerusalem Should Be Placed Just Inside the Lavender Shaded Area. Accurate Maps Except That One Dot. Notice the Source From Which These Maps Were Drawn)

This was the beginning of the 2^nd generational period of time as defined by Scripture—seventy years. It was another monumental milestone fulfillment of prophecy concerning Israel’s destiny, but also the fate of Gentile nations. For this resolution was passed by the world’s largest international body after the defunct League of Nations. Although the UN Resolution of 1947 was providentially directed by the Lord, little did or do the “united” nations of the world understand the Biblical end-times implications of their decision. One day soon they will experience firsthand the final results of what it means to bless Israel or to curse Israel (Genesis 12:1-3). They will learn what God’s own people learned the hard way for forty years in the wilderness, when the Israelites refused to enter the Promised Land. They, “…will discover what it is like to have me (God) for an enemy” (Numbers 14:34).

Also, next year will be the 70^th year anniversary of the actual rebirth of Israel on May 14, 1948.

Anniversary (50^th) of Israel’s Liberation of Jerusalem

This was the crowning achievement of the prophetic fulfillment concerning Israel. Again referring to the Omega Generation and the trilogy of Eye of Prophecy articles preceding it (Seven Times Seven to the 4^th Power), returning the Holy City Jerusalem to Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land of Israel signaled the end of Gentile domination over the Jews that began during the Babylonian Captivity some 2,600 years ago. I’m convinced that the Lord unilaterally reenacted the Year of Jubilee for his chosen people in 1967; having restored the Jubilee with the Balfour Declaration in 1917, fifty years earlier.

See Eye of Prophecy article, Jubilee and Messiah … They Go Together! Posted 1-23-16.

Things to Ponder

Jesus said no one knows the “day or hour” of his return—meaning the Rapture. But he challenged us to discern the signs of the last days.

The time is soon. The time is near. The time could be here … even this year. Or next year or the one after. But it won’t be long.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words” (I Thessalonians 4:16-18).

When Messiah Jesus came from heaven to the earth 2000 years ago, he brought with him the New Covenant promised by Jeremiah. With it he brought God’s grace, love, and forgiveness in a whole new way—by simply trusting in Messiah’s sacrificial death. When Jesus returns he will bring God’s final wrath on an ungrateful, ungodly world. Between these two times, God moves in individuals and nations to get us to listen to his Son.

On the Mount of Transfiguration, God spoke in an audible voice:

Are we listening?

Repeating the question while we wait and watch: Is there a correlation between the devastating hurricanes that have struck the United States since our government’s strategy of pushing peace in Israel that diametrically opposes God’s plan for his people?

God has richly blessed the United States of America. Will that continue? To whom much is given, much is required.

Or should we be asking the question: How many national disasters will it take to get our attention?

What about Irma’s ominous path to Florida as today’s article is being posted?

If we seek to bless Israel and not harm her, perhaps the Lord will once again rebuke the wind and say to the waves:

‘“Silence! Be still!’ Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39).