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Sixth Annual Year End Update 12-30-06There are seven major prophetic signs of the Second Coming, and for the first time in history all seven are in some stage of fulfillment. As in years past, I'll list the seven with their primary biblical references and offer commentary from current events.
1. Israel Will Be In The Land... Ezekiel 38:8
After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel , which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.In 1948, when Israel took its place among the nations of the world again for the first time in nearly 2000 years, students of prophecy recognized the fulfillment of the primary sign that the end of the age was upon us. Jesus had said that the generation being born when that happened would still be alive when He returned (Matt. 24:34).The fulfillment of this prophecy caused another reaction as well. Satan reads prophecy too, and began exerting his influence on world leaders in his continuing effort to thwart the plan of God. As a result, Israel has fought six major wars in the last 58 years, each of them an attempt to erase the Jewish Homeland from the face of the Earth. And it's clear that this effort will continue, with the biggest battle of all looming on the horizon, foretold by Ezekiel in chapters 38-39. Israel 's enemies, both physical and spiritual, won't let up until they've either succeeded (their view) or been destroyed (God's view).But in abandoning their Gaza settlements last year, and with their inconclusive performance against Hezbollah this summer, it seems to many as if the Israelis have become their own worst enemy. In Gaza , the plan was to free the military from having to protect the settlements (a major commitment) while maintaining control of their borders. But turning part of their border security over to Egypt has been a disaster, permitting the Palestinians to smuggle in tons of weapons, ammunition and explosives from the Sinai (courtesy of Syria and Iran) and fire more mortars and missiles into Israel than ever before.Although US and Israeli leaders promised that abandoning Gaza would improve the nation's security, the opposite has happened. And as those opposed to the abandonment predicted, Gaza has become a major center for terrorist activity. When Hamas won the Palestinian elections they quickly turned Gaza into an armed camp. Now Hamas appears to be just as dangerous a threat as Hezbollah and Israel seems to be caught between two forces powerful enough to make defeat a distinct possibility.But the God of Israel sees a different outcome. "I will bring back my exiled people Israel ; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the LORD your God. (Amos 9:14-15)
By Jack Kelley.....To be continued on Part Two....
As in the days of Noah.....
