In last week's message I shared that it appeared Mahmoud Abbas would be elected as the new president of the Palestinians and that evidence was coming forth that refuted the growing euphoria of him being a moderate who could make peace with Israel. Both of these points have been proven correct as of this date.
Abbas was elected by an overwhelming vote of confidence by the Palestinians and after a Jan. 13, ‘05 Palestinian attack on an Israeli base that killed six Israelis and wounded five more, in a statement from Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, which is affiliated with Mahmud Abbas' Fatah faction, praised the attack as a "martyrdom operation."
On Jan. 14, ‘05 Israeli Prime Minister Arial Sharon declared he would have no contact with Abbas until he reined in militants. Abbas has made it clear since before his election he has no intention of taking such a course of action and instead insists that the Palestinians have a right to seek Israel's destruction.
All who think otherwise of Abbas are only riding on the momentum of unrealistic wishful thinking.
If Abbas cannot commit to even the most basic of requirements for what is called for in the so-called "Road-Map-to-Peace" initiative, how can anyone even dare to imagine he will constructively contribute any resolution to the far greater issues such as Jerusalem?
As I have maintained over the years, I am fully persuaded by Scripture that another major Middle East war between Israel and her neighbors must take place. Only then will the Anti-Christ find a receptive and pliable mind set in the people of the region conducive to his 7 year peace plan prophesied of in Daniel 9:27.
Scripture reveals that the supreme issue that will elude the Anti-Christ's guileful ability to negotiate some kind of permanent settlement on will ultimately be over the city of Jerusalem. Mahmoud Abbas has declared for the Palestinians, "We will rule Palestine from Jerusalem."
In this week's message we will finish quoting the last portion of the "Jerusalem Covenant" which was signed by seventy leaders of World Jewry and returned to Israel with special ceremonies on Jerusalem Day, May 19, ‘93.
We are making the contents of this document available to students of Bible prophecy due to the consideration that this covenant could well play a role in the 7 year covenant of Daniel 9:27, which is to be confirmed by the soon-to-appear world dictator commonly referred to as the Anti-Christ.
The Jerusalem covenant goes fr beyond just guaranteeing freedom of religion in Jerusalem.
The Covenant contains a blatant heresy of God's prophetic Word which states in affect that any and all religions are not just to be tolerated, but before God are even acceptable as people call upon any name they choose as Divine.
It is fascinating to make note of how the "Jerusalem Covenant" makes provision for shared worship in Jerusalem and could provide the Anti-Christ with the basis for a covenant of shared worship for Jews and Muslims on the Temple Mount and even a one world religion where truth is what you make it.
Keeping open to all possibilities let us now share the closing portion of "The Jerusalem Covenant."
"TODAY AS OF OLD...we hold fast to the truth of the words of the Prophets of Israel, that all the inhabitants of this world shall enter within the gates of Jerusalem: "And it shall come to pass in the end of the days, the mountain of the House of the Lord will be well established at the peak of the mountains and will tower above the hills, and all the nations shall stream towards it." Each and every nation will live by its own faith: "For all the people will go forward, each with its own Divine Name: we shall go in the name of the Lord our God ever and ever." And in this spirit, the Knesset of the State of Israel has enacted a law establishing: the places holy to the peoples of all religions shall be protected from any desecration and from any restriction of free access to them.
JERUSALEM...peace and tranquility shall reign in the city: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may those that love you be tranquil. May there be peace within your walls, and tranquility within your palaces." Out of Jerusalem a message of peace went forth and shall yet go forth again to all the inhabitants of the earth: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more." Our sages, of blessed memory, have said: In the future The Holy One, the Blessed can comfort Jerusalem only with peace."
FROM THIS PLACE...we once again take our vow: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, May my right hand lose its strength, may my tongue stick to my palate if I do not remember you. If I do not raise up Jerusalem at the very height of my rejoicing."
AND WITH ALL THESE UNDERSTANDINGS...we enter into this Covenant and write: We shall bind you to us forever; we shall bind you to us with faithfulness, with righteousness and justice, with steadfast love and compassion. We love you O Jerusalem with eternal love, with unbounded love, under siege and when liberated from the yoke of oppressors: we have been martyred for you, we have yeaned for you, we have clung to Our faithfulness to you we shall bequeath to our children after us. For ever more, our home shall be within you.
IN CERTIFICATION OF THIS COVENANT, WE SIGN..."Prophecy tells us that instead of a place of peace and tranquility in these last days, Jerusalem will become a cup of trembling" (Zech. 12:2).
The final stage of the war for Babylon, Iraq as well as Syria and Jordan is prophesied in Jeremiah 49, 50 & 51. The warfare will expand to include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, and the Palestinians as they seek to destroy Israel (see Psa. 86).
As I have maintained, and continue to do so in contrast to government reports that Saddam Hussein's army and weapons of mass destruction are no longer a threat, this action in Iraq will soon shake the earth.
The war for Iraq has not ended and full scale engagement could start up again at any time. Saddam Hussein ‘s elusive army and arsenal will one day soon resurface and will not be permitted to continue to disrupt the plans of the New World Order. It will be this issue of hidden arms that will bring about Iraq's destruction by Israel and a world coalition.
When the exploding bombs from this war finally cease and the burying of the dead can begin, it is somewhere at this point that I am convinced the final 7 year covenant will be signed and a limited disarmament of the Middle East will commence.
Within the first 3 ½ years of this apparent lull in fighting there will be a massive invasion of this region by Russia, Iran, Libya, Turkey, German and Ethiopia as is prophesied in Ezekiel 38 & 39. They will likewise all be defeated.
The man known to Christians as the Anti-Christ will then lead the world into the darkest chapter of all of history just prior to the glorious return of the Lord and His saints (see Rev. Ch. 19). It will be at the final, great battle for Jerusalem when evil men's dominion will end and the glorious, eternal reign of the earth's Savior Jesus Christ will begin.
We look forward with expectancy for the removal of every true believer to Heaven by the Lord Jesus Christ before Israel finalizes the 7 year pact with the ambassador of death and hell, the beastly man known as Anti-Christ (see I Thess. 4:15-18, Isa. 28:14-22 & Rev. 13:16-18).
So do you have any such hope? You could from this moment on start to turn your eyes heavenward every day in anticipation of glorious freedom. Freedom from the condemnation of sin, freedom from pain, freedom from all the agonizing cares and sorrows of this world.
This moment put your faith for forgiveness of your sins in the living, resurrected Son of God, Jesus Christ.
If you have chosen to do so then let us welcome you home and rejoice with you in your new birth into eternal life with God.