THE BLOG OF NEVILLE STEPHENS TO WARN PEOPLE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS COMING BACK TO EARTH SOON, AND THAT THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH TO HEAVEN IS VERY CLOSE AT HAND.YESHUA IS COMING SOON AND IS NOW SHAKING THE WORLD (HAGGAI 2:6) TO DRAW PEOPLE UNTO HIMSELF. IT IS NOT THE WILL OF GOD FOR ANY PERSON TO PERISH, SO NOW IS THE TIME TO TURN TO JESUS FOR SALVATION!
By Rivkah Lambert Adler The sun shall turn to darkness, and the moon to blood, prior to the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.” (Joel 3:4).
April 2014 Blood Moon. (Photo: Anne Dirkse/ Wiki Commons)
Blood moon enthusiasts around the world are eagerly awaiting the appearance of a final blood moon of a special four-moon cycle, known as a tetrad, on September 28, 2015. What makes this particular tetrad unique is that each blood moon occurs during a Jewish holiday, making it a very rare historical occurrence.
In a recent talk he gave in Jerusalem, Rabbi Mendel Kessin, a rabbinic scholar, spoke about the connection between the appearance of blood moons on Jewish holidays and historical events that bring the ultimate redemption closer. At the 36-minute mark, Rabbi Kessin introduces the history of blood moons to his Orthodox Jewish audience and explicitly connects the blood moons to redemption.
Kessin begins by explaining that a lunar eclipse occurs when the earth is between the sun and the moon, turning the moon dark. Lunar eclipses happen approximately every 12-18 months, according to Kessin. Rarer than an ordinary lunar eclipse, he continues, is a blood moon, which turns the moon red instead of dark.
Rarer still are tetrads – sequences of four blood moons six months apart. And extremely rare, happening only four times in 500 years, are tetrads that fall on the significant Jewish holidays of Passover and Sukkot [Feast of Tabernacles]. These sequences included the years 1492, 1948, 1967 and 2015.
It is commonly known that in 1492, Columbus discovered America. What is less well-known is that, on July 30, 1492, the entire Jewish community of Spain, approximately 200,000 individuals, were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Columbus’ discovery of America provided the Spanish Jews with safe harbor. As Kessin teaches, the discovery of America softened the exile of the Spanish Jews and, in that way, moved redemption forward. According the Kessin, the exile of the Jewish people began to ease up as far back as 1492.
The next tetrad falling on Jewish holidays happened in 1948, when the State of Israel was founded. The third extremely rare tetrad on Jewish holidays was in 1967, when the city of Jerusalem was reunited. Now, in 2015, the final blood moon of the current tetrad is scheduled to fall on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
In addition, the blood moon this Sukkot will occur just two weeks after the end of the current Shemitah year. This is significant because the Talmud, the most important collection of rabbinic teachings in Judaism, suggests that the the messiah will come in the year following a Shemitah year.
Speaking to Breaking Israel News, Kessin said, “Each one of these is a messianic advancement. There are incredible events that predate the messiah.”
Why would God make blood moons a sign for the Jews? Traditionally, as recorded in the Talmud, a lunar eclipse is a bad sign for the Jews, who mark time with the moon.
Describing the Blood Moons in Hebrew, courtesy of v871.com
On the other hand, the Jewish holidays of Passover and Sukkot are considered nights of the greatest protection of the Jews. The first night of Passover is referred to in Hebrew as leil shimurim, a night of guarding. Additionally, the outdoor booths in which Jews dwell during the holiday of Sukkot are meant as reminders of the fragile huts that protected the newly freed slaves during 40 years in the desert after the exodus from Egyptian slavery.
In essence, Kessin explains that the presence of a blood moon, which would otherwise have been a bad omen, is a good omen for the Jews whenever it falls in this sequence. “Every time a blood moon happens [on a Jewish holiday tetrad],” said Kessin, “there is messianic advancement.”
Kessin reminded Breaking Israel News that the threat from Iran is also messianic, which he says can be clearly seen from the 13th century Biblical rabbinic commentary known as the Yalkut Shimoni. Rabbinic scholar and author Rabbi Nachman Kahana translates the relevant section of the 800-year old commentary:
Paras (Persia-Iran) will be the dread of humanity. The world’s leaders will be frustrated in their futile efforts to save what they can, but to no avail. The people of Yisrael will also be petrified by the impending danger. And HaShem will say to us, “Why are you afraid? All of this I have done in order to bring you the awaited redemption. And this redemption will not be like the redemption from Egypt, which was followed by suffering. This redemption will be absolute, followed with peace.
“We have now entered the countdown to the messiah, which is unbelieveable,” Kessin told Breaking Israel News. “Based on the [verse from the Book of Joel cited above], based on what’s happening, something awesome seems to be in the works. Fascinating!”
Iran: Obama Admin Lying About Nuclear Deal for ‘Domestic Consumption’
"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?"Jeremiah 5:21 (KJV)
EDITOR'S NOTE: It is a curious feeling to be watching America energizing Iran and providing them with all the money, resources and time they need to become a nuclear military power. Barack Obama and John Kerry lie through their teeth daily to the American people about the Iranian Nuclear Deal, and like sheep to the slaughter we do nothing about it.
Senior Iranian officials are accusing the Obama administration of lying about the details of the recent nuclear accord in order to soothe fears among U.S. lawmakers and Americans about the implications of the deal, which will release billions of dollars to the Islamic Republic while temporarily freezing its nuclear program, according to reports from Iran’s state-controlled media.
As Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior Obama administration figures launch a full-court press to convince Congress to approve the deal, Iranian leaders are dismissing the rhetoric as “aimed at domestic consumption.”
Kerry and other top administration officials have been defending the deal on Capitol Hill in recent days, claiming that it will rein in the Islamic Republic’s contested nuclear program and fix its nuclear “breakout” period, the time required for it to obtain the amount of highly enriched uranium necessary for a nuclear weapon, at one year.
Critics have noted that the deal provides Iran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief that could be spent on terrorism and lifts bans on Iran’s export of weapons and construction of ballistic missiles.
When addressing claims this week by the administration that the deal shuts down Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure, Iranian officials scoffed and said that the Obama administration is misleading the public in order to sell the deal.
Sen. Marco Rubio to John Kerry: "Deal says that If Israel strikes Iran, US has to go against Israel"
Hamid Baeidinejad, an official in the Iranian foreign ministry and one of the country’s nuclear negotiators, scoffed on Wednesday at the Obama administration’s comments, saying that they were meant to placate an American domestic audience.
“The remarks by the western officials are ambiguous comments which are merely uttered for domestic use and therefore we should say that there is no ambiguity in this (nuclear) agreement,” the Fars news agency quoted Baeidinejad saying in an interview with state-controlled radio.
This is why Barack Obama cannot be trusted on the Iranian Nuclear Deal:
Baeidinejad said that the Obama administration is misleading Americans about the deal in order to “calm opponents in the Congress and Zionist lobbies to soothe the internal conditions prevailing over debates on the nuclear agreement in that country,” Fars, which is also run by the Iranian state, reported.
As Congress spends 60 days reviewing the deal, which it may reject, the Iranian parliament is undertaking the same task. During a meeting on Wednesday with Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran urged world powers to keep its commitments under the deal.
These includes lifting sanctions on the nearly $100 billion dollar financial empire of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and agreeing to bar American inspectors from all Iranian nuclear sites. source
Proverbs 23:5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for richescertainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Commentary
I am focusing on the economy in this posting because all the signs are there of a massive economic meltdown this Fall. The pressure right now is coming from both Europe and China. The main media and economic advisers will never tell you this. You have to find it on your own from secondary sources, but the facts are there for all to see.
From history, we now have many recessions and depressions to study to see what triggered these events. Once again the triggers are all in place and at the right time the Lord will pull the trigger. As I said many times. I believe that the great meltdown will coincide with the world bullying Israel or America promoting the homosexual agenda. It sure does look like September-October is the time for the meltdown to start.
I posted several articles that give you the big picture of what is happening world-wide. God always warns His people before judgment.
"Right now, the financial world is focused on the breathtaking stock market crash in China, but don’t forget to keep an eye on what is happening in Europe. Collectively, the European Union has a larger population than the United States, a larger economy than either the U.S. or China, and the banking system in Europe is the biggest on the planet by far. So what happens in Europe really matters, and at this point the European economy is absolutely primed for a meltdown. European debt levels have never been higher, European banks are absolutely loaded with non-performing loans and high-risk derivatives, and the unemployment rate in the eurozone is currently more than double the unemployment rate in the United States.
In all the euphoria surrounding the “deal” that temporarily kept Greece in the eurozone, I think that people have forgotten that the economic and financial fundamentals in Europe have continued to deteriorate. Whether Greece ultimately leaves the eurozone or not, a great financial crisis is inevitably coming to Europe. It is just a matter of time."
I believe that you have a very short time to prepare for what is coming. Please seek the Lord about how to physically prepare for this. You need to have everything in place by mid-September at the latest. It is like an economic earthquake just happened and huge tsuamini waves are heading our way.
Matthew 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: (21) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
I cannot say for sure that the US stock market is going to melt down this Fall, but ALL the signs are pointing to it, as the world collapse will bring down America. The main media will never tell you this as it never has in all the past crashes.
You have a very brief window to prepare for what is coming. God always warns His people before judgment but is your "radio" turned on and tuned in to listen to His voice?
"After pledging, investing and otherwise guaranteeing the Chinese stock market to the tune of 10% of GDP, and intervening on at least 40 different occasions in the past month ever since China's stock bubble burst in late June, with the subsequent crash nearly taking the Shanghai Composite red for the year, overnight China officially lost control for the second time, when after a weak start to the Monday trading session, things turned very ugly in the last hour, when the Shanghai Composite plunged by 8.48%, closing nearly at the lows, and tumbling some 345 points for its biggest one-day drop since February 2007 and its second biggest crash in history!"
You have a very narrow window of time to prepare for what is coming. Please act now and do not be blindsided like 98% of the people will be. You must be completely ready by the end of the first week of September. God always warns His people before events like this, but are His people listening?
"But a shocking report from Zero Hedge suggests otherwise. According to one of the world’s leading financial web sites, major banking institutions like JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have been left speechless after the release of new data coming out of China. The news isn’t necessarily that China just reported a massive increase in its gold holdings of some 600 tons, but rather, that they have actively dumped hundreds of billions of dollars worth of U.S. Treasuries over the last 15 months, with some $224 billion having been offloaded in just the last 90 days."
Please focus on the Lord and get your spiritual life right and in order focusing on the coming of the Lord Jesus. This also means being a witness for Him. I would also seek the Lord about finances and what to do. Please do not put this off, as you now have a very narrow window to move as the Lord leads to protect yourself. We see it coming, while the world will be blindsided, so move on this now.
"If we were going to see a stock market crash in the United States in the fall of 2015 (to use a hypothetical example), we would expect to see commodity prices begin to crash a few months ahead of time. This is precisely what happened just before the great financial crisis of 2008, and we are watching the exact same thing happen again right now. On Wednesday, commodities got absolutely pummeled, and at this point the Bloomberg Commodity Index is down a whopping 26 percent over the past twelve months. When global economic activity slows down, demand for raw materials sinks and prices drop. So important global commodities such as copper, iron ore, aluminum, zinc, nickel, lead, tin and lumber are all considered to be key “leading indicators” that can tell us a lot about where things are heading next. And what they are telling us right now is that we are rapidly approaching a global economic meltdown."
Proverbs 27:12 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
"The bottom line is that the bond market is the most dangerous bubble in history precisely because every asset class derives its value from the cost of money. Therefore, even though stocks and real estate aren’t in a classic bubble they have still become vastly overvalued due to the frantic search for yield over the course of seven years. When, not if, this classic bond bubble bursts central banks will be the only buyers left in the market. And this bid from central bankers will have to be massive, protracted and unprecedented in nature. The resulting market chaos should be vastly more baneful than the Great Recession of 2008."
Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Iran Announces Plans to Construct 4 Nuclear Plants Within Decade
By Lea Speyer “Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have…” (1 Samuel 15:3)
Heavy water reactor at Iran’s Arak facility. (Photo: Wiki Commons)
Iran has announced plans to construct four new nuclear plants within the next decade, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said this week.
Iranian officials from the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee were briefed this week by Ali Akbar Salehi on details of the nuclear deal and Iran’s next step following the signing of a nuclear deal with the P5+1.
Iran’s al-Alam news service quoted committee spokesman Nozar Shafi’i explaining that Salehi spoke of Iran’s need to find new sources of natural uranium. According to Salehi, Iranian nuclear officials have already surveyed 60 percent of the country for the rare element.
Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal signed between Iran and western powers, Iran must reduce its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98 percent in the next 15 years. The country must also reduce the number of active uranium-enrichment centrifuges from 20,000 to 5,000.
In return, Iran will receive major sanctions relief that is expected to pump over $100 billion into the Iranian economy.
“What Iran gained by the negotiations from the technical aspect is much more than what the negotiating team was allowed to show flexibility on,” Salehi was quoted as saying.
Iranian officials have also agreed to convert its heavy water reactor plant in Arak. Over the next 15 years, Salehi told parliament members that Iran will renew the technological capabilities of the plant, which have been operating using “40-year-old Russian technology.”
The Iran nuclear deal has come under considerable fire since its signing, with the US Congress launching its review process for the agreement. No quell fears of US allies against the deal, US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to the Middle East to promote the agreement and meet with Egyptian and Gulf leaders. However, he will not make a visit to Israel.
On Tuesday, Israel’s Army Radio reported on a private conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli officials in which he launched an attack on Kerry’s apparent snub.
Commenting on his decision to skip Israel, Netanyahu was quoted as saying, “He really has no reason to come here.” The Iran deal “has nothing to do with us, and has no influence on us,” he continued.
“We’re not at the table” where negotiations took place, Netanyahu added. “We’re one of the courses on the menu itself.”
The Boy Scouts of America on Monday ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I have many fond memories of being in Boy Scout Troop 38 as a teenager, scouting was a fun and informative time in my life. None of these great memories however, include the promotion of the same-sex marriage agenda. In 2015, the BSA has been hijacked by the LGBT Mafia, and as such, we call for an immediate nationwide boycott and rejection of the Boy Scouts of America. Where is the voice of the Christian Church in this nation to rise up and condemn this? I'll tell you why, because the useless, silent, end times Laodicean Christian Church is too busy "asking for blessings" instead of standing on the Bible.
The new policy, aimed at easing a controversy that has embroiled the Boy Scouts for years, takes effect immediately. It was approved by the BSA's National Executive Board on a 45-12 vote during a closed-to-the-media teleconference.
The Boy Scouts of America on Monday ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders during a vote
'Now it's time to unite behind our shared belief in the extraordinary power of Scouting to be a force for good.' The stage had been set for Monday's action on May 21, when Gates told the Scouts' national meeting that the long-standing ban on participation by openly gay adults was no longer sustainable.
He said the ban was likely to be the target of lawsuits that the Scouts likely would lose.
Two weeks ago, the new policy was approved unanimously by the BSA's 17-member National Executive Committee.
It would allow local Scout units to select adult leaders without regard to sexual orientation - a stance that several Scout councils have already adopted in defiance of the official national policy. In 2013, after heated internal debate, the BSA decided to allow openly gay youth as scouts, but not gay adults as leaders.
TRAIL LIFE, USA: The Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts of America. Trail Life, USA, is a Christian scouting group with Biblical values and a strong statement of faith. If you are the parent of a son in the BSA, we urge you to visit Trail Life USA and prayfully consider making the switch today.
Several denominations that collectively sponsor close to half of all Scout units - including the Roman Catholic church, the Mormon church and the Southern Baptist Convention - have been apprehensive about ending the ban on gay adults.
Stuart Upton, a lawyer for the LGBT-rights group Lambda Legal, questioned whether the BSA's new policy to let church-sponsored units continue to exclude gay adults would be sustainable.
'There will be a period of time where they'll have some legal protection,' Upton said. 'But that doesn't mean the lawsuits won't keep coming... They will become increasingly marginalized from the direction society is going.'source
Fear Rises As Financial Markets All Over The Planet Start To Crash
By Michael Synder Can you feel the panic in the air? CNN Money’s Fear & Greed Index measures the amount of fear in the financial world on a scale from 0 to 100. The closer it is to zero, the higher the level of fear.
Last Monday, the index was sitting at a reading of 36. As I write this article, it has fallen to 7. The financial turmoil which began last week is threatening to turn into an avalanche.
On Sunday night, we witnessed the second largest one day stock market collapse in China ever, and this pushed stocks all over the planet into the red. Meanwhile, the twin blades of an emerging market currency crisis and a commodity price crash are chewing up economies that are dependent on the export of natural resources all over the globe.
For a long time, I have been warning about what would happen in the second half of 2015, and now it is here. The following is a summary of the financial carnage that we have seen over the past 24 hours…
-On Sunday night, the Shanghai Composite Index plunged 8.5 percent. It was the largest one day stock market crash in China since 2007, and it was the second largest in history. The Chinese government is promising to directly intervene in order to prevent Chinese stocks from going down even more.
-Over 1,500 stocks in China fell by their 10 percent daily maximum. This list includes giants such as China Unicom, Bank of Communications and PetroChina.
-Ever since peaking in June, the Shanghai Composite Index has dropped by a total of 28 percent.
-Even Chinese stocks that are listed on U.S. stock exchanges are being absolutely hammered. The following comes from USA Today…
The 144 China-based stocks with primary listings on major U.S. exchanges have erased nearly $40 billion in paper wealth since the Shanghai Composite index peaked on June 12. It’s an enormous destruction of wealth that in effects wipes out the market value of a company the size of cruise ship operator Carnival.
-The Chinese stock market crash pushed European stocks significantly lower on Monday…
The pan-European FTS 300 provisionally closed 2.1 percent lower, while the Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC closed respectively 2.4 percent and 2.5 percent lower.
The U.K.’s benchmark FTSE outperformed its euro zone peers, but still closed unofficially down 1.0 percent.
-Overall, European stocks have been falling steadily since the beginning of last week. To get an idea of how much damage has been done already, just check out this chart.
-As I mentioned above, an emerging market currency crisis is causing havoc for economies all over the planet. The following comes from an article that was published by the Telegraph…
The currencies of Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey have all crashed to multi-year lows as investors flee emerging markets and commodity prices crumble.
The drastic moves came as fears of imminent monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve combined with shockingly weak figures from China, which stoked fears that the country may be sliding into a deeper downturn and sent tremors through East Asia, Latin America and Africa.
-The government of Puerto Rico has announced that it does not have enough cash to make a scheduled debt payment of 169 million dollars on August 1st. The Obama administration says that there are no plans in the works to bail out Puerto Rico.
-On Monday, the Dow was down another 127 points. It was the fifth day in a row that the Dow and the S&P 500 have both declined.
-Overall, the Dow is now down more than 650 points since July 20th.
-480 stocks on the New York Stock Exchange have hit new 52-week lows. Many analysts consider this to be a very, very ominous sign.
-I have repeatedly written about the danger of the commodity collapse that we are currently witnessing, and the Bloomberg Commodity Index fell another 1.22 percent on Monday to a fresh low of 92.1493.
-On Monday, the price of U.S. oil hit a 52-week low of $46.92.
-So far, the price of U.S. oil has fallen about 20 percent this month.
-Back in June 2014, the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude was above 107 dollars. Since then, the price of U.S. oil has fallen an astounding 56 percent.
-Thanks in large part to the collapse in energy prices, junk bonds are cratering. This is something that happened just before the financial crisis of 2008, and now it is happening again. The following comes from Wolf Street…
Among the bonds: Cliffs Natural Resources down 27.6%, SandBridge down 30%, Murray Energy down 21.2%, and Linn Energy down 22.3%, according to Bloomberg.
For example, Linn Energy 6.25% notes due in 2019 were trading at 78 cents on the dollar at the beginning of July and at 58 on Friday, according to LCD. There was bloodshed beyond energy, such as AK Steel’s 7.625% notes due in 2021. They were trading at 62 cents on the dollar, down 22% from the beginning of July.
“The performance is a disappointment to investors who purchased about $40 billion of junk-rated bonds from energy companies this year, thinking that the worst of the slump was over,” Bloomberg noted.
This is exactly what we would expect to see during the early stages of a financial crisis.
Of course global financial markets may bounce back somewhat tomorrow. If you will remember, some of the largest one day gains in stock market history happened right in the middle of the stock market collapse of 2008. So don’t get fooled by what happens on any one particular day.
With so much fear in the air, literally anything could happen in the weeks and months ahead of us. One month ago, I issued a red alert for the last six months of this year. I warned that a major financial crisis was imminent and that people needed to start protecting themselves immediately.
As I write this article on Monday evening, financial markets are already opening up over in Asia. Japanese stocks are already down 251 points even though the market has only been open for about an hour over there.
We have entered a time when what is happening to global stock markets will once again be headline news. We are right on the precipice of another great financial crisis, only this one is going to ultimately end up being much worse than the last one.
Now is the time. Please get prepared while you still can.
Iran Buys 100 Russian Refueling Aircraft For Its Air Force To Reach Any Point In The Mid East
July 27, 2015 | Debka In defiance of the international arms embargo, Iran last week placed an order with Moscow for a huge fleet of 100 Russian IL78 MKI tanker aircraft for refueling its air force in mid-flight, thereby extending its range to 7,300 km. This is reported exclusively by DEBKAfile from its military and intelligence sources. The transaction runs contrary to the terms of the nuclear accord the six world powers and Iran signed in Vienna earlier this month.
These tanker planes can simultaneously refuel six to eight warplanes. Their acquisition brings Israel, 1.200km away – as well the rest of the Middle East - within easy range of Iranian aerial bombardment. It also puts Iran’s air force ahead of Israel’s in terms of the quantity and range of its refueling capacity.
Whereas opponents of the Vienna deal have warned that Tehran will spend the billions of dollars released by sanctions relief as a bonanza for fueling its campaigns of terror in the region, it turns out that Iran’s first post-accord purchase is a heavy investment in the rearmament and upgrade of its armed forces’ aggressive capabilities.
The Israeli air force is familiar with the Russian airborne tanker from its use by the Indian air force with which Israel has close ties of cooperation. Its military engineers have also upgraded the Russian fuel tankers in service with the Uzbekistan air force.
Tuesday, July 21, DEBKAfile uncovered some of the tactics and escape clauses Iran has had built into its nuclear accord with the world powers for circumventing its provisions and commitments. The purchase of Russian refueling craft is a concrete example of this kind of evasion. Because the accord confirms the arms embargo in force until 2020, both Moscow and Tehran can maintain that the Russian aircraft industry will not be able to produce 100 new planes before the five years are up, and so the transaction is not a violation.
The huge Iranian-Russian military transaction therefore stands as the first palpable test of the Vienna accord, depending on whether US President Barack Obama or his Secretary of State John Kerry decides to make an issue of it. If they just let it go, it will set a precedent for the arms embargo clause of the nuclear accord to start unraveling.
Also Tuesday, Kerry gave an interview to the Al Arabia TV to prepare the way for his mission to the Gulf region on Aug. 3, which is to ease its rulers’ extreme unease over the ramifications of the nuclear accord. He asserted strongly to the interviewer: “I am not going to go through in great detail all the ways in which this agreement, in fact, makes the Gulf States and the region safer.”
The Secretary of State can expect some really hard questions during his trip on exactly how the Vienna accord makes the region safer, when Iran’s first act after signing is to arm itself with a fleet of Russian in-flight fuel tankers to expand and strengthen its range and power for aerial aggression.
Will God or the Messiah Build the Third Holy Temple?
By Rivkah Lambert Adler “And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst.” (Exodus 25:8).
View of model of the third Temple on display in Jerusalem’s Old City. (Photo: Mendy Hechtman / Flash90)
Efforts are underway to make the Third Jewish Temple a reality. From preparing vessels to be used in ritualistic service to raising red heifers, controversy arises when questioning who can exactly prepare for and construct the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
The opinion that the Third Temple will be built by human hands and that the Messiah will have a major role in its rebuilding is most famously ascribed to the Rambam, a renowned 12th century Jewish Bible scholar from Spain. Rambam taught that the very fact that the Temple is being rebuilt will be a major sign that humanity has reached the End of Days.
There is an opposing Jewish philosophy that asserts that the Third Temple already exists in Heaven and will descend onto the Temple Mount at the time God deems is proper. This position is generally associated with Rashi, the preeminent Biblical commentator who lived in 11th century France.
Which is correct? And what will the role of the Messiah be in building the Third Temple?
One way of reconciling these points of view is related to the two accounts of Temple construction in the Bible. The details of the First Temple, known as Solomon’s Temple, are described in the Book of Kings, beginning in the sixth chapter. This description is extensive and quite detailed. The First and Second Temples were built according to the directions that appear in the Book of Kings.
There is another description of Temple architecture in the Book of Ezekiel, beginning in chapter 40. This description is much less detailed, veiled in ambiguous prophecy and much more difficult to understand.
The two descriptions come together in the teaching that the Messiah will oversee the construction of those elements of the Third Temple, which can be understood from the Book of Kings. Following that stage of work on the Third Temple, God will explain the construction elements from the prophecy of Ezekiel that are not currently understandable. It is this knowledge that will come from Heaven, allowing the Messiah and his laborers to complete the building.
Another way to reconcile the two opinions is to consider that the Jewish people are commanded to build a Temple in Jerusalem to serve as a Sanctuary for God. Thus, the physical building is in the hands of the Jewish nation. Once the Messiah and his workers complete the external structure, the Presence of God will descend, filling the Third Temple with holiness.
Until the End of Days, we will not know which of these opinions is correct. However, world-renowned Temple Mount activist and founder of the Temple Mount Heritage FoundationRabbi Yehuda Glick told Breaking Israel News why he is solidly in the camp of those who believe that the Third Temple will be built by human hands.
“Anyone who understands the concept of Bet Hamikdash – The Temple – knows that there nothing that contradicts this concept more than a Temple from heaven! The whole idea of the mikdash [a holy place] is that we build Him a sanctuary just as He creates us a world”.
Islamist “Justice”: Slow Painful Death for Christian Mother in Pakistan
Gatestone Institute
Pakistan’s authorities appear to have found a solution to at least one of their problems in the international arena: Aasiya Noreen, or “Asia Bibi,” a 50-year-old Christian woman and mother of five who has been on death row for six years for allegedly insulting Muhammad.
Instead of executing Asia Bibi and further advertising to the international community that theirs is a savage and backwards nation — and instead of releasing her and provoking millions of angry Muslims to turn on the government and accuse it of supporting “apostasy” — Pakistan’s authorities appear to be letting time, wretched conditions, severe maltreatment, and beatings slowly kill her.
Recent reports state that she is deathly ill and “so weak she could hardly walk.” Mission Network News says that Asia Bibi has “internal bleeding, abdominal pain, and is vomiting blood. If she does not receive immediate medical care, she could die.”
According to Bruce Allen of Forgotten Missionaries International, “She suffers terrible pain, and she can hardly eat. … Here’s this woman, languishing in a prison under this death sentence for a crime that she vehemently denies.”
In June 2009, while working as a farm laborer on a hot day, Asia Bibi was told to fetch water. Because she had drunk some of the water, the Muslim workers refused it: both the cup and the water were, they said, unclean because a Christian had touched them. (See this video of an Egyptian cleric saying how disgusted he is by Christians and how he could not drink from a cup that was merely touched by a Christian.)
Before the “cup” incident, it seems, a feud between Asia and one of her Muslim neighbors concerning property damage had existed.
After the “cup” incident, her enemies and some of the Muslim workers complained to a Muslim cleric. They accused Asia Bibi of making insulting statements about the Muslim prophet, Muhammad. Her official “crime,” therefore, which she vehemently denies, is “insulting” the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Shortly after the complaint was registered, a mob stormed her home and severely beat her and her family, including her children. They put a noose around her neck and dragged her through the streets. She was then arrested; and in November 2010, a Punjabi court fined her and sentenced her to death by hanging, in accordance to Section 295-C, which prohibits on pain of death any insult against the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Because her case attracted attention and condemnation from the international community, six years later, she has not been executed. Instead, however, sick, isolated and regularly beaten by prison guards and Muslim inmates, she has evidently been left to rot to death.
In late 2011, a female prison-officer — assigned to provide security for Asia — was discovered beating her, “allegedly because of the Muslim officer’s anti-Christian bias, while other staff members deployed for her security looked on in silence.”
Earlier this week, I flew back to the U.S. from Israel for several speaking engagements.
In the coming days, I speak (and blog) about the crumbling U.S.-Israel alliance, the Iran nuclear alliance, the horrific advance of the Islamic State across Syria and Iraq, and what happens to America, Israel and the nations of the Middle East according to Bible prophecy.
But I need to draw your attention to some of the most troubling headlines I have seen in years. The news in the Middle East is dark and getting darker, to be sure. But the headlines here in America are getting very dark as well - mass shootings around the nation, the slaughter of nine Christians inside the black church in Charleston, the 12 shot in a Louisiana movie theater, and four Marines gunned down in Chattanooga, all of which happened in July alone; Planned Parenthood executives caught discussing how best to sell hearts, lungs and brains from aborted babies; and now the unveiling of a sculpture of Satan in Detroit in what is being promoted as the largest public Satanic ceremony in American history.
No, this is not fiction. These are not plots of my future novels. This is all happening across America this month.
Consider the following:
*Undercover video shows Planned Parenthood official discussing fetal organs used for research (Washington Post)
*Second video shows Planned Parenthood doc haggling over price of fetal body parts (Fox News)
*The price of fetal parts (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post)
*Planned Parenthood Selling Dead Baby Parts Put Liberal Media in a 'Quandary' (Bill O'Reilly, Fox News)
I am absolutely sickened by these videos in which Planned Parenthood executives discuss - so coldly, so cruelly - the selling of human body parts over a lunch of salad and wine.
Captured on tape by the undercover video sting operation of a pro-life organization, these two executives discuss without shame or remorse how they would be happy to ask doctors who perform abortions on human babies to be extra careful to kill the babies in such a way that their livers, lungs, brains and other body parts can be extracted intact and sold. One Planned Parenthood leader says the babies can be killed in a "less crunchy" way. The other casually jokes that she'd like to make enough money from the sales of these body parts to buy "a Lamborghini."
Have you watched the videos? Please do, and please share them with others. People need to know the truth. The mainstream media is giving some coverage to the story, but not nearly enough. This is sick. This is barbaric. This is the stuff of Dr. Mengele and the Nazis, and it isn't happening on the other side of the world in Auschwitz; it is happening right in America every day.
Planned Parenthood is an organization that kills more than 300,000 babies in the womb every year. It also receives more than a half-billion dollars a year of federal money - that's right, your taxpayer dollars and mine. Congress should immediately cut off all taxpayer funds to the group. PP should be investigated for criminal activity (it is illegal to sell body parts for profit). Congress should also immediately pass pending legislation to ban abortion after 20 weeks. And pro-life legislators and activists in Washington, D.C. and the States need to make a new push to end abortion once and for all in this nation.
Since 1973, more than 57 million babies have been aborted in this country. Their innocent blood is crying from the ground for justice, and God is listening. If we do not plead for His forgiveness and turn this thing around, judgment is coming.
These headlines alone would be horrific enough. But it gets worse. Consider this headline just published today:
*Group To Unveil Satan Statue In Detroit During 'Largest Public Satanic Ceremony In History' (AP/CBS Detroit)
Here are excerpts from this story, published by the Associated Press and CBS News in Detroit:
*A group is planning to unveil an 8-foot-tall bronze statue featuring a goat-headed Satan in Detroit during a gathering that's being billed as the "largest public satanic ceremony in history."
*The Satanic Temple has said Saturday's private event will be open only to people with tickets, $25 each.
*Invitations to "The Unveiling" summoned guests to prepare for "a night of chaos, noise, and debauchery... Come dance with the Devil and experience history in the making." The event location is not being announced publicly and is known only to those with tickets.
*The group said the bronze Baphomet monument, which weighs about one ton and has never been seen before in public, "is not only an unparalleled artistic triumph, but stands as a testament to plurality and the power of collective action." The statue, which backed by an inverted pentagram and flanked by statues of two young children gazing up at the creature, shows Satan with horns, hooves, wings and a beard.
*The group went on to say the unveiling event "will serve as a call-to-arms from which we'll kick off our largest fight to date in the name of individual rights to free exercise against self-serving theocrats."
*Photography is strictly prohibited at the 18-and-older event unless, of course, you're a $75 VIP ticket holder. Those partygoers will have an exclusive opportunity to be photographed seated on the Baphomet monument.....
*The statue had been planned for the state Capitol in Oklahoma City until Oklahoma's Supreme Court banned a monument of the Ten Commandments on Capitol grounds.
*Detroit was ultimately selected for the unveiling because The Satanic Temple in the city has a "strong congregation," with more than 200 registered members....
It is sobering how rapidly evil is rising in this country, how brazen, how public. We need to humble ourselves. We need to get on our knees. We need to seek Christ's forgiveness and His mercy on this country. We need to do it now, or we will face the consequences foretold in the Bible thousands of years ago.
Consider just one passage of many:
"7 At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; 8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. 9 Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; 10 if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it." (Jeremiah 18:7-10).
