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

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Republican presidential candidates for 2012

Hucabee (David Ball/Wikimedia)

In spite of the weaknesses of President Obama’s policies and his growing unpopularity, Republican challengers in 2012 may well have a tough time winning the presidency.  The likely slate of Republican challengers all have significant weaknesses that would lead to a difficult campaign. 

One of the leading Republican challengers is the man who won Georgia’s Republican delegates in 2008.  Mike Huckabee is a former governor of Arkansas and current television host on Fox News.  Huckabee is also a former pastor and author of several books, including the recently released A Simple Christmas.  Huckabee is a solid conservative, in spite of being denounced by several other candidates and talk show hosts as a “populist” and liberal.  Huckabee is a charismatic campaigner who stole the show at the 2008 Republican debates.  Huckabee is a supporter of the Fair Tax.

Huckabee’s chief weakness as a candidate is his record of pardons as Arkansas Governor.  Critics have pointed to the number of Huckabee pardons, the suspicion that many of them were issued based on jailhouse conversions, and the fact that several of the people to whom he gave clemency returned to a life of crime.  The most infamous of these was Maurice Clemmons, a juvenile prisoner in Arkansas, who moved to Washington State and murdered four police officers after being granted clemency by Huckabee.

Mitt Romney (Wikimedia/Steve Jurvetson)

Huckabee also made headlines recently on two occasions.  In one instance, he commented on the Michael Medved Show that Natalie Portman’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy sent a “problematic message” to young Americans.  In the second, he misspoke about Obama’s childhood and said that the president grew up in Kenya. Huckabee is currently the host of a talk show on Fox News.

A second Republican favorite was also a star of the 2008 GOP primaries.  Mitt Romney is a former governor of Massachusetts, but a native of Detroit.  Romney had a successful private sector career as a business management consultant and executive.  Notably, he was largely responsible for the success of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.  He was elected Massachusetts Governor in 2002.

Like Huckabee, Romney also has some less than desirable attributes to overcome.  The largest skeleton in Romney’s closet is Romneycare. The Massachusetts state health plan, which is widely described as a prototype of Obamacare, is increasingly unworkable and expensive, just like the federal version of universal health care.  Romneycare has many of the same features that conservatives find so unappealing in Obama’s reform law, including a mandate that everyone buy health insurance. 

Romney has other problems as well.  In his past political career he has held positions on social issues, such as abortion and gay rights, that many Republican voters would find objectionable.  His socially moderate (or liberal) positions may have helped him in Massachusetts, but hurt him nationally.  Additionally, Romney’s Mormon faith is controversial for some.

The third of the top three Republican figures in 2012 election speculation is Sarah Palin.  Palin, the former governor of Alaska, burst onto the national political scene in 2008 as John McCain’s running mate.  The “Mama Grizzly” was widely popular among conservatives, but was widely unpopular among the country at large.  Although more experienced than Barack Obama (and in the supporting role on the ticket instead of the lead), she was widely portrayed as a political neophyte.  Saturday Night Live skits mocking her (“I can see Russia from my house”) and she became a laughingstock in the media.

Sarah Palin (Wikimedia/Therealbs2002)

Palin went a long way toward redeeming herself in the 2010 elections.  Even though she was not a candidate, she played the role of Tea Party kingmaker in several races (but endorsed several losing candidates as well, notably in Delaware and Nevada).  She has also authored a book and hosted a cable television reality show.  Recently, Sarah Palin was voted the second most admired woman in the US (right behind Hillary Clinton).  She remains a favorite target of the left as her recent spat with comedienne Kathy Griffin shows.

Palin has two serious problems.  The first is that, although she was a popular governor of Alaska, she faced a number of charges of ethics violations.  Ultimately, she was cleared of all wrongdoing (although only after the 2008 election).  The deluge of ethics complaints was a factor in her decision to resign her position as Governor of Alaska.  Her resignation lends credence to charges of inexperience and doubts about whether she is tough enough to be president. 

More troubling is Palin’s abysmal approval rating.  The leftist hatchet job on this successful conservative woman may have done permanent damage.  Her unfavorable ratings are very high, even among Republicans.   In a March 2011 Quinnipiac poll, Palin was the lowest ranked Republican and scored just above Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.  This means that Palin would be starting with a significant disadvantage in a campaign.

Two Georgians are also likely contenders in the race.  Newt Gingrich, former Clinton-era speaker of the House of Representatives and architect of the “Contract with America,” hinted strongly that he is considering a presidential run.  Since he left congress, Gingrich has served on several national security and health care commissions.  He has authored many fiction and nonfiction books.  Gingrich has set up foundations for health care reform, restoring America’s Judeo-Christian heritage, and for seeking bipartisan solutions.

A Gingrich candidacy would face problems as well.  Gingrich has a long history of personal and marital problems, including divorces and affairs.  Like Sarah Palin, he has a high negative rating and was unpopular when he left office after a showdown with Bill Clinton that led to a government shutdown.  Nevertheless his leadership of the House helped to balance the budget and generate surpluses in the 1990s, a development that President Clinton took credit for.

Herman Cain (Wikimedia/Gage Skidmore)

The second Georgian is the only one so far who has formally declared his candidacy.  Herman Cain has vast experience in the corporate world.  He was an executive at the Coca-Cola Company, Pillsbury, Burger King, and as CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, a company that he rescued from bankruptcy.  He also led the National Restaurant Association and was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.  Today he is host of the Herman Cain Show on Atlanta’s WSB AM-750, where he often is also a frequent guest host for Neal Boortz.  Cain was emcee at 2010’s Douglas County Tea Party in west Georgia.

Cain’s biggest negative is his lack of name recognition.  He does not show up at all in many polls, but is starting to gain traction after winning a Tea Party straw poll in Phoenix in February.  He has never won a campaign.  He was defeated in a 2004 bid for Georgia’s GOP senate nomination.  Finally, even though he has extensive leadership and financial experience, he lacks the foreign policy experience needed in today’s world.

Donald Trump has also hinted at a possible candidacy.  The real estate tycoon and reality television star recently spoke at CPAC and told crowds that he might enter the race.  Trump has considered running before in 1988 and 2000.  He is well known, but it is questionable whether votes would seriously consider him as a candidate.

There are several other potential Republican candidates who suffer from lack of name recognition.  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is engineering a turnaround of the Garden State, but, like many other potential candidates, is virtually unknown to most of the rest of the country.  Tim Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota, has a conservative record and cool nickname (“T-Paw”).  Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s campaign may have ended before it started with an unfortunate remark about segregation.  Mitch Daniels, the two-term governor of Indiana, is also rumored to be considering a run for president.  He is also relatively unknown outside his state, but recently angered conservatives by proposing a truce on social issues, even as the left-wing assault on marriage continues.  Jon Huntsman, Jr., the current ambassador to China and former governor of Utah, is also thought to be a possible candidate.  Finally, Rick Santorum is a strong social conservative who is well known as a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania.  However, Santorum suffered a landslide loss to Democrat Bob Casey in the 2006 elections that will not be easy to overcome.

Former candidate Ron Paul rounds out the list of likely GOP candidates for 2012.   Paul is a libertarian-leaning representative from Texas and has a loyal following around the country.  He previously ran for president in 1988 and 2008, but failed to win the nomination.

In spite of his dedicated following, Paul has many negatives.  Most obviously, Ron Paul is a year older than John McCain.  In 2012, he will be five years older than McCain was when he ran against Barack Obama in 2008.  As a libertarian, Paul also has taken a number of positions that most Republicans do not agree with.  He opposed the Iraq War and is somewhat of an isolationist.  Likewise, Paul’s call to end the Federal Reserve will probably sound a little too extreme for most voters.  In 2008, he failed to win a single state and never got more than 25% of the vote.

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Obamacare update

Wikimedia/ Agradman

The number of waivers issued by the Department of Health and Human Services for one-year waivers from requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) exceeded 1,000 recently.  According to a report in The Hill, recent additions to the waiver list brought the total to 1,040 organizations that do not have to meet the minimum limit of $750,000 coverage.  Many of these organizations offer so-called “mini-med” policies that are inexpensive and offer low limits.

Without the waivers, many companies would likely have terminated their health insurance programs rather than meeting Obamacare’s requirements for expanded coverage.  The cost of converting mini-med policies to full health insurance plans would have been prohibitive.  As it is, the waivers are a stop-gap measure intended to last until 2014 when health care exchanges are scheduled to go into effect. 

A partial list of organizations that have been issued exemptions can be found on the HHS website.  Several states have been issued exemptions, but Georgia is not listed.  There are a number of unions listed among the exemptions, including the Atlanta Plumbers and Steam Fitters Fringe Benefit Fund, the Service Employees International Union, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. 

Most large Georgia-based companies are absent from the list but many companies that Georgians are familiar with are receiving exemptions.  O’Reilly Auto Parts is a Missouri-based company with many stores around Georgia.  Tennessee-based Ruby Tuesday, a restaurant chain with many locations around Georgia is also on the list.  Cracker Barrel, Pepsico, and Dish Network are some of the other companies receiving exemptions that Georgians know well that have 2011 exemptions.  The exemptions are not listed by state and no address information is provided on the list.

In a second recent development, Judge Roger Vinson, who ruled Obamacare unconstitutional last January, issued a stay of his ruling.  The stay resolved questions about whether the implementation of Obamacare could continue while the federal government appealed to the Supreme Court. 

The judge criticized the Justice Department’s slow movement on the case:  “It was not expected that they would effectively ignore the order and declaratory judgment for two-and-a-half weeks, continue to implement the act and, only then, file a belated motion to ‘clarify.’”  He also encouraged the 11^th circuit to place the case on a fast track for review, saying that “The citizens of this country have an interest in having this case resolved as soon as practically possible.”  In all likelihood, the case, which was brought by 26 states, will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.  Georgia is also a party to the lawsuit.

It is important to get a speedy resolution to the case because of many parts of Obamacare are being implemented on a schedule.  The majority of the law will go into effect in 2014, but funding will automatically start this year, even if it is not appropriated by the Republican-majority House of Representatives.  Additionally, the law has already fundamentally changed the health insurance landscape by setting off a wave of insurance company mergers and acquisitions.  It also forced many insurers to stop selling child-only insurance policies because they are no longer profitable under the new law. 

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