Ancient prophecy may be linked to Egypt violence

The civil strife in Egypt seems to be coming to an end. CBS News reported on Saturday that the curfew for civilians would be shortened from 11 hours per night to nine. The Islamist former president of the country, Mohammed Morsi, is in jail along with many leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. Over a thousand pro-Morsi demonstrators have been killed by security forces according to a New York Times report. The crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood may have pre-empted Egyptian involvement a soon-to-come regional war against Israel and helped to fulfill a 2,000 year old prophecy.

In Ezekiel 38-39, an ancient Hebrew prophet foretold a future war in which a large Islamic army marched against a reconstituted Israel. Although many of the names of the participating nations are unfamiliar to modern ears, the identities of many can be determined by Biblical scholars. Ironically, Egypt, one of Israel’s largest and most powerful neighbors, is not mentioned in the prophecy even though its modern name is the same as it was in Ezekiel’s day.

Joel Rosenberg, a prominent scholar and insider of both American and Israeli politics, believes that the prophecy of an Arab coalition led by Iran (Persia) and Russia (Rosh and Magog) may be on the verge of being fulfilled. Rosenberg’s 2006 book, “Epicenter,” [Joel Rosenberg’s blog is Flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com and his podcast is available on iTunes] detailed how Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Iran under the Ayatollah Khamenei are be colluding on an Iranian nuclear weapons program that will eventually threaten Israel. Israel’s relations with Turkey (referred to as Beth-Togarmah, Gomer, and Meschech in the prophecy) have traditionally been friendly, but have become chilly since the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid in which several Turks died while attempting to smuggle supplies past the Israeli blockade of Gaza. In the book, Rosenberg pointed out that Egypt and Israel had signed a peace treaty in 1979 that had secured peace between the two nations for more than 30 years.

The victory of Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in the 2012 Egyptian election threatened to change all that. Even before the election, the Muslim Brotherhood had called for a review of the treaty. In 2012, the deputy head of the Brotherhood’s political wing told a London-based Arab newspaper, “We never promised that we would honor the peace treaty with Israel. The treaty is not sacred and we can and should make changes in it.” Israel Hayom also quotes another senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood who said the party’s position “is not to recognize the Zionist entity and not to recognize peace agreements with hostile entities.” It is likely that Morsi would have ignored or renounced the peace treaty with Israel had he remained in power.

The Egyptian military did not depose President Morsi because he threatened war with Israel. Morsi had angered many Egyptians by throwing out the country’s constitution and claiming sweeping new executive powers. Twenty-two million Egyptians signed a petition demanding that Morsi step down according to France 24. The army removed Morsi to prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from consolidating power and transforming Egypt into an Islamist state. Eventually the army used force to disperse pro-Morsi demonstrators and cracked down on Muslim Brotherhood members throughout the country. The provisional military government is considering banning the Muslim Brotherhood according to the Associated Press.

With a series of disastrous wars against Israel still in the memory of military leaders, the army may well have also wanted to prevent the nation from being dragged into another conflict by the Muslim Brotherhood. In fact, Turkey’s Islamist prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, claimed that Israel was behind the coup. The Financial Times noted that since the coup the Egyptian military had stepped up cooperation with Israel to fight Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula. Although the Egyptian generals probably never considered Bible prophecy, their action against the Muslim Brotherhood they may have inadvertently helped to fulfill the prophecy that Egypt would not be part of the coalition against Israel.

The Bible does contain other prophecies of Egypt as well. Daniel 11, Ezekiel 29-30, and Isaiah 19 are all prophecies that deal with the judgment of Egypt. Daniel 11 describes wars between the King of the South, widely believed to be Ptolemy, a Greek ruler of Egypt, who lived 300 years after Daniel. Ezekiel spoke of Nebuchadnezzar’s victory over Egypt. This prophecy was fulfilled by the Babylonian victory over the Egyptians at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C. and subsequent conquest of parts of Egypt. Isaiah 19 tells of God’s judgment on Egypt and their eventual repentance and worship of the Hebrew God. This prophecy has apparently not been fulfilled in total.

Most Bible scholars believe that the coalition of Ezekiel 38-39, often called the War of Gog of Magog, will occur before the end-time events described later in Daniel, by Jesus in his Mount Olivet Discourse, and by the Apostle John in the Revelation. In 2011, a group of Israeli rabbis said that they believed that the Arab Spring uprisings might be setting the stage for the Magog war. A number of Christian preachers have also suggested that Ezekiel’s prophecy may be nearing fulfillment. Also in 2011, the Iranian government released a film that indicated that the Mahdi, a Shia Muslim version of the Messiah, is will appear soon to lead his followers on a military conquest.

Israeli officials have had little to say about the unrest in Egypt except to denounce Erdogan’s charges of instigating the coup. Reuters reported on August 15 that Prime Minister Netanyahu had instructed his cabinet to avoid public comment about the fighting in Egypt.

 

originally published on Atlanta Conservative Examiner

The Biblical prophecy case for Obama’s second term

It is difficult to imagine how President Obama could be reelected. The U.S. economy is in the midst of one of the worst recessions (or slowest recoveries) in memory. Unemployment has been above eight percent for his entire term in office. Nearly half of Americans receive some sort of entitlement payment from the federal government. This has caused the federal debt to increase by almost six trillion dollars under his watch, a 50 percent increase in less than four years. At the same time, America’s poverty rate has increased in each year of his administration.

Whether or not there is an economic case to be made for his reelection, President Obama is considered the favorite to win the election in November. A possible explanation for this may be found in one of the world’s oldest and best-selling books.

Over the past several years, similarities have been noted between modern Islamic radicals and clues about end-times theology found in the Bible. In his best-selling 2006 book, “Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future,” Joel Rosenberg presented his theory that Russia and Iran are forming an unholy alliance to attack Israel with nuclear weapons. Rosenberg believes that this looming confrontation was foretold by the Biblical prophet Ezekiel thousands of years ago.

The passage, found in chapters 38-39 of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, describes an international coalition of Arab nations led by Persia, now called Iran, and a mysterious figure called Gog of Magog. Rosenberg traces historical clues that point to Russia as the modern location of ancient Magog. Ezekiel describes how the coalition will be supernaturally destroyed as they try to attack Israel. Theologians believe that the war of Gog of Magog will usher in the end-time events described by Jesus in the Mount Olivet discourse (found in Matthew 24:25, Mark 13, and Luke 21), the Biblical book of Daniel (chapters 9-12), the Biblical book of Revelation, and other parts of the Bible.

Rosenberg is not the only person who has developed a similar theory of divine intervention to explain as well as predict world events. In 2011, a group of Jewish rabbis stated their belief that the Arab Spring uprisings were paving the way for the Messiah. A few months later, the Iranian government produced a film that described their belief that the arrival of the Mahdi, an end-time figure in Shia Muslim theology, was imminent.

Where does the reelection of Barack Obama fit into this picture? Obama is the most anti-Israel and pro-Muslim president in our history. Since the reconstitution of the Jewish state in 1947, America and Israel have had a special relationship. The United States was the first nation to recognize Israeli independence and is its largest trading partner. The U.S. and Israel have close military ties. On numerous occasions, the U.S. has used its veto power in the United Nations to quash anti-Israeli resolutions.

Since Barack Obama became president, U.S.-Israeli relations have become much more strained. President Obama opposed Israeli settlements in territory captured from the Arabs in the Six Day War of 1967. In fact, Obama proposed in 2011 that Israel return to its largely indefensible pre-1967 borders.

Obama has also restrained Israel from attacking Iran to destroy its nuclear weapons program. On August 30, 2012 Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Guardian, “I don't want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it [attack Iran].” Dempsey stated his belief that an attack would “clearly delay but probably not destroy Iran's nuclear program.” Even more recently, last week the White House announced that President Obama would not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the United States this month.

While Obama has distanced himself from Israel, he has reached out to Muslim nations. In 2009, he offered “a new beginning” to Muslims in a much-hyped speech in Cairo. That same year, he sent greetings to Iran on Nowruz, the beginning of the Persian new year, in which he said that his administration was “committed to diplomacy” and not “threats.” Since then, the Obama Administration has voiced opposition to Iran’s nuclear weapons program and pursued sanctions while it simultaneously issues waivers for the sanctions and resists setting deadlines for Iran to halt its nuclear weapons program.

In the past two weeks, Obama’s Islamic détente has crumbled. Beginning on the eleventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks, radical Muslims began attacking American embassies throughout the Middle East. The attacks, timed to coincide with the release of a film about Mohammed, began in Cairo. A few hours later, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya was killed in Benghazi along with three other Americans. There have also been attacks and violent protests on U.S. embassies and consular offices in Tunisia, Yemen, Lebanon, Iran, Morocco, and Sudan. There were even Muslim protests at the U.S. embassy in London.

President Obama is uniquely qualified to enable to the Iranians to attack Israel in two ways. First, he prevents Israel from attacking the Iranians before they have a fully capable nuclear weapons system. Likewise, the chance that the U.S. will intervene militarily to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability is almost nil as long as Obama is president. In general, the Muslim world neither respects nor fears the United States under President Obama.

Second, President Obama’s economic policies are weakening the United States to the point where the nation is financially unable to support an army that will intimidate rogue nations and terrorist groups. In the European social democracies that he seeks to emulate, social welfare spending is crowding out defense spending. In the past, Europe could do this because of U.S. military aid and assistance. As the U.S. defense budget shrinks, both Europe and North America, along with much of the rest of the world, could be left defenseless. President Obama’s policy has been to reduce America’s preeminence in world affairs. The events of September 11, 2012 reflect that diminished role.

While war with Iran in the Middle East is likely in either case, Obama’s restraint makes the Ezekiel scenario more likely. If Mitt Romney is elected president, it is much more likely that either the U.S., Israel, or both will launch a preemptive strike to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability before it is completed.

If President Obama is reelected, it is more likely that the U.S. will do nothing and will prevent Israel from doing anything until Iran is ready to launch a nuclear strike. In addition to Israel, that strike is likely to target the United States, possibly with a devastating electromagnetic pulse attack that could destroy much of America’s electrical grid. This would almost totally destroy the U.S. economy and lead to the starvation of millions of Americans. In 2009, President Obama canceled the construction of missile interceptor bases in Poland and the Czech Republic that would have defended against an Iranian missile attack.

With the United States economically and militarily impotent, it would also leave Israel alone in the world. The Jewish state would be isolated in a hostile corner of an uncaring world. To assure the continued flow of cheap oil, most countries in the world would not object to allowing the Muslim nations, led by Iran, to destroy their hated enemy.

Why does God care so much about a tiny country in an isolated corner of the world? It may never be understood fully why God loves Israel and Jerusalem so much, but it is clear from the Bible that he does. There are a multitude of verses about Jerusalem and Israel. In Matthew 23:37, Jesus laments, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.” Likewise, Psalm 122:6 instructs, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” As far back as Genesis (12:2-3), God promised Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation…. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse….” Spiritually speaking, Jerusalem, held sacred by the world’s three largest religions, is the center of the Earth.

War with Iran is almost certain no matter who wins the presidential election. The Iranians and other radical Muslims are determined to destroy Israel and the United States. The question is whether it will be on our terms or Iran’s. If Barack Obama is reelected, the war will probably be on Iran’s terms and it will set the stage perfectly for the confrontation foretold by Ezekiel more than 500 years before the time of Christ.

 

Originally published on Examiner.com:
http://www.examiner.com/article/a-prophetic-case-for-obama-s-second-term

Rabbis say Arab unrest may signal Messiah's coming

Rabbi Chaim Konievsky (Wikimedia)

A number of Israeli rabbis have said that the spreading unrest in the Arab and Muslim world may signal the long-awaited coming of the Messiah.  Christians, who believe that the Messiah has already come in the form of Jesus (Yeshua), can also find many reflections of Biblical prophecy in current headlines.

Chaim Kanievsky, a Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi who is believed by his followers to have mystical powers, said, “"It is evident that many unnatural things are happening.  People have come to me and said that it's 'Gog and Magog'. We cannot know. But it's probable that any unrest that God creates shows that the Messiah is coming, and that we must begin to prepare for it and become stronger."

Another Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, Aharon Leib Steinman, blamed the unrest on the persecution of Torah (Old Testament) students:  “Recently it appears that there is a powerful effort to destroy and agitate the world of the Torah, through various attempts to prosecute kollels and yeshiva students.  When you try to agitate the world of the Torah, God agitates the world.”

Much of the focus on the Arab uprisings stems from a Biblical prophecy of Ezekiel regarding the future War of Gog of Magog.  In the prophecy (found in Ezekiel 38-39), a coalition of nations is led by “Gog, ruler of Rosh, Meschech, and Tubal” in an attack on Israel.  Although the names of the nations listed in the prophecy are antiquated, most are generally believed to refer to modern day Arab and Muslim nations.  One nation that is easily identified is Persia, which is the historic name of Iran.  Modern Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons with which to destroy Israel.

The current wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world may eventually bring nations that are now ruled by secular dictatorships and monarchies under the sway of radical groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.  Where the secular governments have realized the folly of directly confronting Israel, newly radical governments might take the success of their revolutions as a sign of Allah’s favor and be more inclined to join in an attack on the predominantly Jewish state.

The War of Gog of Magog will be different from previous Arab-Israeli conflicts which have been settled by conventional means.  According to Isaiah, the coming war will be won by divine intervention.  In 38:19, Ezekiel describes an earthquake followed by a rain of fire and ice from the sky in verses 21-22 as Gog’s troops turn on each other.  This bombardment from Heaven will totally destroy the attacking forces.  Chapter 39 describes the aftermath of the attack and the carnage inflicted on the attacking armies.

In Christian theology, the War of Gog of Magog is typically thought to occur before the second coming of Jesus Christ.  It is possible that the utter destruction of the militant Islamists in the Middle East will make it possible for the Jews to construct a replacement for their temple in Jerusalem.  The last temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70 during the First Jewish Revolt.  The Biblical book of Daniel describes a latter-day stoppage of sacrifices at the temple (9:27, 12:11).  Jesus refers to these verses (Matthew 24:15-16) in response to a question about his return and the end of days.  The prophecy of Daniel was partially fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes when he defiled the altar of the temple in 168 B.C.  Obviously this is not the ultimate fulfillment because Jesus was speaking of future events and Antiochus’ actions had occurred over 150 years earlier.

The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount (Wikimedia/Chris Yunker)

The traditional site of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem is now occupied by the Muslim Dome of the Rock mosque.  The mosque is currently protected by the Israeli government even though Jerusalem has been under Israeli control since Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser’s disastrous Six-Day War on Israel in 1967.  Any attempt to remove the mosque to rebuild the temple would undoubtedly spark a holy war.  If the mosque were destroyed as a result of the divine intervention against Gog, however, it might well provide an opening for Jewish Israelis.  Interestingly, the chapters of Ezekiel following the Gog prophecy contain a description of a new temple that has so far never been built.

Along with a defilement of the temple, Jesus also says that signs of his return will include earthquakes and famines.  The recent Japanese earthquake ranked as the fourth largest of all time by magnitude.  Of the nine strongest earthquakes in history, four have occurred within the last decade. With respect to deaths, only two of the top ten earthquakes (Haiti in 2010 and Sumatra in 2004) have occurred in the past decade.  Likewise, world food prices have risen sharply over the past few years.  The rising cost of food is a factor in the Arab uprisings and is already causing a food crisis in the poor nations of the world.

 “We've been living in the ‘last days’ ever since Jesus' ascension,” says David Reid, pastor of Peachtree Community Church in Villa Rica and author of Leading to the Bedroom.  “He could come back for the church at any time.  It's the next appointment on God's calendar. Jesus gave many signs of His return in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 including wars and earthquakes.  All of these things are warnings for us to be ready for His return because it is closer than ever before.”

As David Gushee, professor of Christian ethics at Atlanta’s Mercer University also notes “According to the New Testament, Jesus will one day return to earth. But he also said that no one knows the day or hour of his return. The only proper posture for the Christian is to ‘be always on the watch.’  We must live in a way pleasing to Christ whether he is to return tomorrow or in 10,000 years. All speculations that a certain sequence of events now definitively means that the messiah will soon come should be rejected, even though they seem to be a quite natural response of human beings to the stressful and sometimes terrible events of life on earth.”

For a brief overview of Biblical signs of the approaching end of days, please visit http://www.captainkudzu.com/2007/12/signs-of-times.html

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/rabbis-say-arab-unrest-may-signal-messiah-s-coming"> 

Who Is Gog of Magog?

2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4
Ezek 38:2-4 (NKJV)

Ezekiel prophesied of Gog, of the land of Magog, a future leader who will one day lead a coalition of nations against Israel. The Bible tells us that Gog will be destroyed by divine intervention just before the moment of his triumph. Magog is not found on any modern map, so how will this prophecy be fulfilled?

A clue to the whereabouts of the land of Magog can be found in the story of Noah in Genesis. In Genesis 10:2, Magog is listed as a grandson of Noah (and a son of Noah’s son, Japheth). Meshech and Tubal, whose names were also mentioned by Ezekiel, have the same lineage.

Scholars believe that Magog and his descendents moved north and eventually settled in what is now Russia. According to the historian Josephus, Magog’s descendents eventually became known as the Scythians. The Scythians were a warlike people who were one of the first groups to master horseback riding and the use of horse drawn wagons. The Tartars, another warlike Asian people who settled in modern Russia, may also be descended from Magog.

Similarly, Meshech is believed to have founded northern peoples. Ethnic Georgian tradition is that Georgia was founded by descendents of Meshech. The Russians believe that the city of Moscow (Moskva) was founded by King Mosokh, another descendent of Meshech. They believe that the name of the city is a combination of Mosokh’s name and that of his wife, Kwa.

Tubal is the third son of Japheth identified by Ezekiel. Tubal’s tribe is believed to have settled south of the Black Sea and eventually moved further into Asia. The city of Tobolsk, situated on the Tobol River in Siberia, is believed to refer to Tubal.

Two other grandsons of Noah are also listed by Ezekiel. Gomer, another son of Japheth, was progenitor of the Cimmerians, a people who settled north of the Black Sea. The Cimmerians are believed to have been ancestors of the Celts. Togarmah (Genesis 10:3) is a son of Gomer. Ezekiel refers to Togarmah “from the far north” (38:6).

Likewise, Ezekiel 38:15 says that Gog will come “out of the far north.” When Ezekiel speaks of the north, he uses Israel, and more specifically Jerusalem, as a reference point. One far northern country would be Turkey, and some scholars do believe that Ezekiel’s references do point there. However, beyond Turkey, Moscow lies the far north of Israel and Jerusalem. Given Soviet support for Israel’s enemies over the past few decades, as well as Russia’s support of Iran today, Russia seems to be a much more likely candidate for the country of Gog.

The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) refers to “Rhos” instead of “Rosh” (Ezekiel 38:2). A tribe of Scythians in Crimea used this name, and the inhabitants of Russia may have taken their name from them. Additionally, the Araxes River, which flows through Turkey, Iran, and Azerbaijan, has also been called the Rhos. An alternative explanation for “Rosh” is that it refers to the Hebrew word for leader and is thus a title.

Finally, the meaning of the word “Gog” remains mysterious. Gog may refer to the name of an individual who will lead the latter days Russian army against Israel. Another possibility is that Gog is a title bestowed upon such a leader. One suggestion is that it may be a contraction of “Chakan,” a Northern Asiatic term for a king.

The clues that the Bible gives about the leader of the coalition can be viewed in terms of modern geopolitics. Two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia is once again resurgent. Oil wealth has provided Russia with the means to revitalize its military.

Vladimir Putin, a former official of the KGB and the FSB (Federal Security Bureau), succeeded Boris Yeltsin as Russia’s president in 2000. He was reelected in 2004, but had to step down in 2008 due to term limits. His handpicked successor, Dmitri Medvedev, immediately named Putin as his prime minister, where he continues to wield considerable power.

Putin’s administration has been characterized by crackdowns on democracy and murders of dissidents. Putin strengthened the power of the Russian executive during his time in office. He has also made numerous veiled and blatant threats against former Soviet republics and, in 2008, was instrumental in Russia’s invasion of Georgia.

Under Putin, Russia and Iran have grown closer. Russia is supplying Iran with nuclear reactors and modern air defense systems. Russia has also interfered with UN and NATO efforts to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Russia and Iran have formed an economic alliance and are very close militarily as well, for the first time in history. Iran, of course, was traditionally known as Persia.

Vladimir Putin may or may not eventually prove to be Gog of Magog. Currently, he is a likely candidate as the de facto ruler of Russia. His entreaties toward Iran, a traditional enemy of Israel, also match Ezekiel’s prophecy and give him a motive to lead a joint attack on Israel at some point in the future.

Sources:
Epicenter: How the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future, Joel C. Rosenberg
Schofield’s Study Notes, Bible Explorer 4.0, Wordsearch, 2004.
Jamieson-Faussett-Brown Bible Commentary, Bible Explorer 4.0, Wordsearch, 2004.
http://www.truthnet.org/islam/Islam-Bible/12Gog-Magog-Russia/Gog-Magog-Russia.htm
http://www.biblicalstudies.com/bstudy/eschatology/ezekiel.htm
http://www.lost-civilizations.net/scythians.html
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0847927.html
http://www.moscow-city.ru/download/source/zima_Guide_engl.pdf/Engl_13.pdf
http://www.answers.com/topic/vladimir-putin
http://www.meepas.com/russiairanfpaanalysis.htm