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Characteristics of the Messiah the Jews are still Expecting!

August 13, 2004

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With all the events in the Middle East pointing to a soon coming Second Advent of Messiah, my thoughts have been turned to a question that pops up from time to time concerning Messiah’s First Advent.

I have been asked throughout my ministry, “What sort of a Messiah are the Jews expecting?” Having known a range of Jews from atheistic to strict Orthodox, and having read the Torah and Mishnah, I have tried to give them an answer that matched the answers

I have received from conversations with Rabbis over the years, since no one can answer the question better than a Jewish Rabbi. So I am going to let the article by Rabbi Yosef Gabay, taken from Arutz Sheva National News Service, answer the question for those who are interested.

Having studied what type of Messiah they were expecting during the days of Jesus, and having compared it with Rabbi Yosef Gabay’s views on the subject, I find little change has occurred in Jewish expectations since that time. You might consider keeping this article in case you are asked: “What sort of a Messiah are the Jews expecting?”

Begin Arutz Sheva Article

The Messiah

By Rabbi Yosef Gabay

July 10, 2006

The Messianic Age is the focus of the entire Creation. The arrival of the Messiah is a fundamental belief in Judaism.

This yearning gives Jews all over the world hope concerning the ultimate future of mankind.

They look with a seasoned eye at the irrational oppressions and insults by so many nations around them, noting in their heart that these nations will eventually be confounded and confronted. Awaiting the Messiah gives Jews great optimism knowing that, in the end, they will be vindicated. Through His prophets, God promised better days for the Jewish People. He will surely keep His Word, regardless of the rise of new ideologies or social upheavals.

The Messiah will be a mortal human being, born of human parents (Rambam, Melachim 11:3). He will be a direct descendant of King David. He will inspire all of mankind to abandon evil and do good. The world will recognize his profound wisdom and Divine inspiration, and come to seek his advice.

Although man will still have free will in the Messianic Age, he will want to do good and follow God’s teachings. It will be as if the power of evil were totally annihilated.(*) The world will become increasingly Godly, as the prophet said (Isaiah 11:9): “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea.”

Peace and harmony will prevail between nations, as they realize the foolishness of war. Social justice, as well as economic affluence, will be the norm. Thus, the prophet foretold (Isaiah 2:2-4): “And he (the Messiah) will judge between nations and decide between peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they practice war any more.”

During the Messianic era, all idols will be rejected and all the statues will be broken down in the same way those of infamous tyrants are eventually pulled down by popular revolutions.

Imagine when God’s presence shall once more rest over the Holy Temple in Jerusalem,

setting the stage for a world without disease, malnutrition or crime.

From the destruction of the Holy Temple to this day, the Divine Presence never left the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Jewish tradition(1) explains that God took an oath, as it were, that the Western Wall will never be destroyed. This in itself represents an irrefutable proof that Judaism is a God-given religion.

Indeed, that special wall was for too long under the control of enemies who could have destroyed it any time they wished. Its very existence should confound the skeptics and the cynical alike.

Throughout our memorable and turbulent history, the prophets and sages of Israel longed for the Messianic era in order to serve God without any preoccupations. It will be the time to study the Torah and to discover God’s Wisdom. Israel’s yearning for this revered period is neither to rule over nations nor to indulge in an excess of food and drinks.

This will be the time when the whole world’s priority will consist in knowing more about God.

During that era, the prophecy of Zechariah(13:2) will be realized: “It will happen on that day – the word of God, Master of Legions – that I will eliminate the names of the idols from the lands, and they will not be mentioned again; I will also remove the false prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.” In the Messianic times,

the tendency to choose right over wrong will be natural. This newly developed human nature will translate into the elimination of evil.

One of the most important signs heralding the Messianic age is the in-gathering of the Diaspora Jews and the resettlement of the Land of Israel. There is also a tradition that the land will be cultivated at that time, based on Ezekiel’s prophecy (36:8): “But you mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people of Israel for they are at hand to come.” The Talmud teaches that there is no better sign of the coming of the Messiah than when the Land of Israel will once again give its fruit (Sanhedrin 93a). Today, the fruit grown in Israel is sold in many European countries, while the same land refused to yield its fruit to foreign occupiers as long as the Jews were not back to settle it.

An additional noteworthy event is reported in Kabbalistic books written two thousand years ago (Zohar Chadash 27b). An anti-religious Jewish leadership who will rule over the land of Israel during the pre-Messianic times. Jewish atheists with alien philosophies will strive to minimize, if not eliminate, Torah knowledge among the people of Israel. This remarkable prediction is currently being witnessed.

Legislation to further weaken the observance of Judaism have passed in the Israeli parliament during the last few years.

Other important considerations heralding the arrival of the Messiah are the rebuilding of the Holy Temple and the return of prophecy, which can exist only in the Land of Israel.

The current resettlement in the Land of Israel by Jews is a precursor to this grand era, from which all of mankind stands to benefit.

The ongoing international talks and declarations favoring the establishment of a Palestinian state in Israel will only result in wasted political energies and fruitless focus. Although the Land of Israel has been the subject of invasions and occupations by numerous armies, there has never been any independent sovereign nation in the land except for the nation of Israel. The reason behind this incredible and irrefutable fact is simple: this land belongs to God, as does the entire world, and He gave it to the Jews.

“They will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, within which your fathers dwelled; they and their children and their children’s children will dwell upon it forever; and My servant David will be a leader for them forever.” (Ezekiel 37:25) This divine commitment can not be foiled by a US president or by the leaders of a United Europe.

If a group of Arabs had settled in France for one or two hundred years, does this fact make France theirs?

When the Babyloni ans conquered the L

and of Israel, they did not create an independent Babylonian state in Israel. Their king, Nebuchadnezzar continued to rule his empire from Babylonia. Later in history, the same development took place with the Persian invaders, then with the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Ottomans and finally, with the British. None of these powers were successful in establishing an independent state in the Land of Israel. God has promised that as long as the Jews are away from their land no other nation will be able to settle it: “I will make the land desolate; and your foes who dwell upon it will be desolate.” (Leviticus 26:32)

When dealing with the Land of Israel, the international community significantly fails to consider the most important component of the equation; namely, God. One cannot rationally fail to recognize God’s persistent involvement with the Land of Israel and the Jewish People, for better or for worse. Similarly, no one can deny the persistent fascination the world shows with the political and religious upheavals taking place in Israel. The international media seems to be stubbornly obsessed by any small or large story developing in Israel. This interest is neither coincidental nor a passing fancy.

Rather, it is Divinely inspired to ready mankind for the great day when the whole earth will proclaim God as their King: “On that day, the Lord will be One and His Name will be One.” (Zachariah 14,9)

For the past 60 years, secular Zionist leaders have caused severe harm to the Jewish people and the Jewish cause by failing to unequivocally make this point.

They stood before the United Nations, before kings and presidents, and deliberately brushed aside this special, albeit tumultuous, relationship between God, Israel and the Holy Land. As a result of their haughty attitude toward Judaism, many generations in the Arab world, in Asia and Europe have been raised to believe the biggest lie of this past century – that Israel, or any part of it, belongs to the Palestinians.

The disdain of secular Israeli leaders toward our holy Torah and the harm they caused the Jewish people are unforgivable. Not only are they ashamed of their religion, but they have acted shamefully. For the first time in history, and through the power of international telecommunication, they had the opportunity to show the world that we are indeed a “light unto the nations.” They would have earned the respect and admiration of the world had they conveyed to mankind God’s message. Instead, they deliberately avoided any reference to God in their discourses, which were delivered to so many viewers. In this area, too, they failed miserably.

Additionally, for the past sixty years, these secular leaders have devised educational curriculums intentionally devoid of Torah and of God’s veneration, the historical identity and essence of the Jew. The disastrous outcome is a new Israeli generation on the verge of a spiritual holocaust. Sixty years of Israeli secular leadership is causing more spiritual damage to the Jewish people than the lengthy years of European persecutions.

This force-fed culture of atheism upon the Jewish youth is dutifully overseen by a tyrannical Supreme Court – a bastion of atheism that disdains religious tolerance. The court constantly issues “legal” rulings thwarting Torah education.

The Jewish People is now living through the fifth and most trying galut, or exile. Indeed, sages of mysticism(5) have predicted that the Jews will undergo five agonizing exiles before the realization of the Messianic times. These are: the Babylonian exile; the Persian exile; the suffering under the Greek pagans; and the long tribulations under Edom, Christianity. The f inal and most challeng

ing exile is currently taking place in the Land of Israel, under secular leadership. It is at the end of this exile that the Messiah will be heralded.

Notwithstanding the physical suffering and humiliations incurred during these various exiles, their real common denominator is the trying aspect through which we are to unequivocally maintain our faith in God and the Torah.

When a tragedy strikes a wicked person, he refers to it as natural coincidence. When it strikes a righteous individual, he sees God’s hands in it. He takes stock of his deeds and then repairs his ways. The secular Zionist politicians have been slapped with numerous wars, terrorist attacks, Scud missiles, international condemnations and an ailing economy.

The country and its commendable citizenry are in an incessant gasping mode. To the leaders, the daily anxieties and financial uncertainties of the people are of little relevance. The leaders justify these tragedies as national struggles and coincidences in the land about which it is written: “A Land that the Lord, your God, seeks out; the eyes of the Lord, your God, are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to year’s end.” (Deuteronomy 11,12) If anything can stand unquestioned, it is that in the Land of Israel there is no such concept as “coincidence”.

In his work Laws of Kings, Maimonides writes that if a king from the House of David arises who studied Torah constantly and occupies himself with commandments like his forefather David, in accord with the written Torah and the Oral Torah, and he compels all of Jewry to follow it and support it, and wages God’s wars, then he is assumed to be the Messiah.

If he acts and succeeds, and builds the Temple on its site, and gathers in the Jewish dispersed, then he is certainly the Messiah. He will improve the entire world, to serve God together, as foretold: “Then I shall turn the nations with a clear language, to have them all call God’s name to serve Him in unison.” (Zephaniah 3:9)

As long as these prophecies have not been fulfilled, no one should delude himself as to whether the Messiah has arrived. Notice this Divine Promise:

It will be when all of these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse that I have presented before you – then you will take it to your heart among all the nations where the Lord, your God, has dispersed you; and you will return unto the Lord, your God, and listen to His voice, according to everything that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and all your soul. Then the Lord, your God, will bring back your captivity and have mercy upon you, and He will gather you in from all the peoples to which the Lord, your God, has scattered you. (Deut 30:1-3)

End Arutz Sheva Article

Knowing what Israel expected the characteristics of Messiah to be when he first appeared on the earth, it is easy to understand why they did not know the day of his visitation, and why they still do not recognize Christ as the Promised One.

Luke 19:41-44 – And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, [42] Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

[43] For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, [44] And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

II Corinthians 3:14-18 – But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

[15] But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon

their heart. [16] Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. [17] Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. [18] But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Micah 5:1-4 – Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. [2] But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. [3] Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. [4] And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. (Review Whole Numbered Archive Prophecy Update Numbers 62 to 69 for Full Exposition of Micah 5:1-7)

Zechariah 14:9 – And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

John 5:39-41 – Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. [40] And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. [41] I receive not honour from men.

Matthew 23:37-39 – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! [38] Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. [39] For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Luke 21:27,28 – And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. [28] And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

Mopping Up in Advance of UN Resolution 1701 Cease Fire!

August 12, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

A very important phase of the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 is underway while Israel waits for the deployment of their replacement forces from the UN and Lebanon. They are now mopping up the forces and installations of Hizbollah in sou

thern Lebanon. It is very important because the degree to which they are successful in this last operation in Lebanon, will determine how long it will take Hizbollah to regroup and cause Israel to launch another offensive.

Since I believe the next time Israel launches an offensive across its northern border will trigger three and one-half years of tribulation in Israel, how well they are able to clean Hizbollah out now, determines how long it will take the ten toes of Daniel 2 to get ready to lure Israel back across the border to launch a surprise Jihad against her.

I believe we are getting ready to enter the prophetic phase of the Tribulation Period described in I Thessalonians 5:3,4 – the time when Israel will be lulled into a false sense of safety and security in her own might and ability to defend her borders. But she will be stunned and defeated the next time she crosses into Lebanon, and driven into the Negev Wilderness. My guesstimate as to when she will cross again in

to Lebanon to trigger the final three and one-half years before Armageddon is indeed a guess, no more and no less, but I believe it will occur at some point in time between 2008 and 2012.

It will occur, but precisely when can only be a guess until it does. When it does, it will set a chronological series of events that will culminate some three and one-half years later at Armageddon.

There are two things I will be watching over the next couple of years, Lord willing, that I believe will reveal how “safe” Israel begins to feel in her own mindset, (1) The completion of the border security barrier wall between herself and the Palestinian terrorists, and (2) The creation of a DMZ barrier between herself and Hizbollah.

If Israel comes to the point she believes she can maintain a reasonable degree of peace and safety along these two zones by her own military forces and expertise, then I Thessalonians 5:3 will kick in, and the chronological sequence of events listed following it will begin to be fulfilled.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (Please See Archive Prophecy Update Numbers 12 and 67A).

Zechariah 13:8 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (Please See Archive Birth Pang Numbers 36, 41, 42, and 43).

Jeremiah 30:7 – Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Zechariah 13:9 – And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Luke 21:25-28 – And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; [26] Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. [27] And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

[28] And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Zechariah 14:9 – And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

The following article by Yaakov Katz, the JPost. com Staff, and the AP, was extracted from the Jerusalem Post.

It gives an excellent description of the current mop up operation now being conducted by the IDF in southern Lebanon.

Begin Jerusalem Post Article

IDF Moving to Gain Ground ahead of Cease-Fire

Yaakov Katz, JPost.com Staff and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST

August 11, 2006

IDF operati ons in Leban

on continued to expand on Saturday.

Government officials said IDF operations would not stop until the army’s goals were reached, despite the passage of UN Security Council resolution 1701.

Senior army officers said that until the cabinet – set to convene on Sunday to approve the resolution – orders them to halt the operation, the army would continue pushing northward.

It is believed that the IDF would use all the means at its disposal to gain as much ground as possible until it is ordered to stop, a decision expected to be taken in the coming days.

If the cabinet approves the cease-fire, the army would have to halt all “offensive operations,” according to the text of the UN resolution, but would be allowed to respond if attacked.

Early Saturday, the IDF was ordered by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to take over all areas in south Lebanon from which rockets have been fired at Israel. Later in the day, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz said that Israel has nearly tripled the number of forces in Lebanon as part of its expanded ground war in Lebanon, and expects to fight for another week.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz, Chief of Staff Halutz and senior IDF officers visited the Northern Command headquarters in Safed overnight Friday in order to oversee the beginning of the IDF incursion meant to carry out the government’s order.

According to the IDF, troops were advancing north and west toward the Litani River, some 30 kilometers from Israel. Taking the territory would take several days, the army said, following which the IDF would operate in the area to remove the terror infrastructure and to destroy rocket launchers.

IDF forces have killed at least 20 Hizbullah fighters in Saturday fighting, the IDF said. Reports also indicated IDF casualties in fierce gun battles raging in south Lebanon.

According to Northern Command Chief of Staff Brig.-Gen. Alon Friedman, the last part of the operation could take several weeks. In an interview with Israel Radio on Saturday, Friedman said the IDF could expand its operations past the Litani if it was ordered to do so by the government, and emphasized that the IDF would continue to operate in south Lebanon until the cabinet gave different instructions.

A senior IDF source said on Saturday morning that the army believed the operation to clear launchers from south Lebanon would last several days. Senior government officials reportedly have said that the IDF could succeed in taking all the territories from which rockets had been fired despite the short timeline given to continued military operations by the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Israeli officials expressed satisfaction with the resolution, and the government was scheduled to vote on the cease-fire at its weekly cabinet meeting Sunday morning.

The IDF had started a widened operation in south Lebanon after Wednesday’s cabinet decision that authorized the army to carry out a massive ground offensive “to deal with the Hizbullah positions in south Lebanon, from which barrages of missiles continue to be launched against the Israeli civilian population,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

“Our action does not exclude a diplomatic option,” Regev said before the Security Council vote. “But… it is incumbent upon the government to defend its citizens.”

According to military sources, close to 70 percent of the Katyusha rockets raining down on Israel are fired from just south and north of the Litani river. It is in these parts of Lebanon that the Hizbullah’s Nasser Unit is waiting with thousands of fighters and functioning command and control centers.

End Jerusalem Post Article

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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

The Type of UN Resolution Finally Put in Place will determine How Long it will be until the Jihad Attack of Daniel 11:40 Occurs!

August 11, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

The push of “the king of the south” against the “king of the north” is still several years away, but the current push of Israel (king of south) into southern Lebanon has been a preview of how the Daniel 11:40 war will begin. The outcome of the future push of Israel (the king of the south), against Syria (the king of the north with its nine Islamic nation confederation), will be quite opposite from the outcome of the current conflict. Instead of Israel penetrating deep into Lebanon to establish another DMZ Buffer Zone, she will be met by a massive response of nine Islamic countries from without, and one from within the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israel will be soundly defeated, two-thirds of her population will be destroyed, and one-third will be driven into the Wilderness of the Negev, where they will remain for some three and one-half years.

Daniel 11:40,41 – And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. [41] He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. (See Archive Prophecy Update Numbers 71 and 72).

Zechariah 13:8 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

The article which follows, by Yaakov Katz in the Jerusalem Post, gives some hope that Israel’s latest decision to finish the job of rat killing in southern Lebanon before pulling out, regardless of the last minute diplomatic maneuvers in the UN to pass a watered down resolution that would allow Hizbollah to quickly return to power after Israel pulled out, will cause the next lull in conflict between Hizbollah and Israel to be of longer duration. My guesstimate is that the lull will be broken by a vicious Jihad attack from the north against Israel at some point in time between 2008 and 2012.

The implementation of the current UN Resolution, and the degree to which Israel is able to root out Hizbollah in the next 36 hours before voting on it in a cabinet meeting, will determine how long it takes Hizbollah to re-supply itself to be a part of the final Jihad. So far my guesstimate is looking good.

Begin Excerpts from Jerusalem Post Article

Up to 40,000 Troops could enter S. Lebanon in New Push

Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST

August 11, 2006

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the IDF on Friday to send ground forces into Lebanon and up to the Litani River, some 30 kilometers from Israel.

The decision to go ahead was reached after it became evident that a UN resolution would not include the disarmament of Hizbullah.

In any case, officials stressed that the ground operation could come to a halt at any time if an accep table cease-fire resolution is put on the

table.

The IDF has over the passed few days been gearing up for the operation which was approved by the Security Cabinet on Wednesday.

According to military sources, close to 70 percent of the Katyusha rockets raining down on Israel are fired just south of, and north of the Litani river.

It is in these parts of Lebanon that the Hizbullah’s Nasser Unit is waiting with thousands of fighters and functioning command and control centers.

As the decision was made by Peretz and Olmert to order the IDF to move up to the Litani, talks were underway at the United Nations Security Council in New York where it appeared that member countries were on the verge of declaring a cease-fire in the region.

IDF sources s aid th

at even if a cease-fire was in the works, Israel was better off being in a better position militarily – at the Litani, and from there to conduct negotiations regarding a cease-fire resolution.

IDF officers on Thursday blasted the diplomatic echelon claiming that Olmert had restrained and limited the military from expanding its ground operations into Lebanon and from dealing a heavy blow to Hizbullah.

40,000 troops were waiting along the northern border for orders to enter Lebanon and to push up to the Litani, and an additional 7000 were currently operating on the ground in Lebanon.

A high ranking defense source told the Jerusalem Post that already early in the morning it was apparent that negotiations at the UN would not bear fruit and diplomats there would not succeed in mutually drafting a cease-fire.

The source said that Peretz and Olmert met for several hours on Friday and reviewed different drafts of the resolution, “once it became clear that there would not be a resolution in the near future, the decision was made for the IDF to launch the operation.”

“We gave the diplomatic process a chance, it failed and now we will achieve our goals militarily,” said the officer.

The IDF said that it would take at least one week to get to the Litani river and another 4-6 weeks to clear out Hizbullah presence and rocket launchers from the area.

End Excerpts from Jerusalem Post Article

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.

We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

Worldwide Result of the Current Conflict – Uniting Fanatical Islam!

August 11, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

In previous wars fought away from American shores, our troops went across the seas singing, “We’re going Over-Over, and we won’t be back till its Over-Over There,” and returned with songs like, “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again.” Even in the midst of the great terror and horror between the two events, there was always the acute awareness that one day everything would return to what those war generations accepted as being “normal.” It will not be the same in this greatest of all wars this generation is facing, whether they like it or

not. This war will not end with a return to “normal,” unless you consider the Millennial Reign of Christ as “normal.” This war we are about to enter is a war manifesting the influence of the spirit of antichrist represented by Islam on large masses of humanity, as opposed to the influence of the Messiah on those who have believed in his coming.

This war can only end with the coming of the Messiah. I thank God things are not going to return to “normal” after Armageddon! The current episode of planned mass murder by fanatical Islam, of thousands of passengers on perhaps as many as ten airliners, is becoming “normal” to this generation.

It is a sure sign that this war is, and shall be, a different kind of war, and it will be the last one before Messiah comes to end it.

Luke 21:26-28 – Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. [27] And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. [28] And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Revelation 19:16 to 20:6 – And he hath on his vesture and on

his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. [17] And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; [18] That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. [19] And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. [21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

[1] And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. [2] And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

[3] And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. [4] And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. [5] But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.

This is the first resurrection. [6] Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

This current conflict between Hizbollah and Israel

is becoming the great catalyst which draws the masses of religious fanaticism down a narrow trail with no room to turn and retreat.

In the Napoleonic Wars there was always an awareness imbedded in the psyche of the populations of the world that the wars would finally pass, and everything would, in its own time, return to a condition of what the man in the street would call “acceptable,” or maybe “the good times.” This was also true in World War’s I and II, as well as the Korean and Vietnam wars – and sure enough, it happened.

However, in this present “War on Terrorism,” the world is dealing with a fanatical religion that will never allow its opponents to return to a condition of “acceptable” or “the good times.” This is the time of the great final war, with its last major battle of Armageddon – there is no way that mankind can stop it, and only the return of Jesus Christ can put an end to it for a thousand years.

The following extract from Arutz Sheva is just another example of how anxious Islam is to defend fanaticism in its own ranks, which is also mirrored by the worldwide growth of fanatical groups like the one just exposed in England.

Begin Extract from Arutz Sheva Article

Arutz Sheva – Israel National News

Worldwide, Islamic Fundamentalists Join the Fray

Tuesday, August 8, 2006 / 14 Av 5766

Energized by the ongoing war between Israel and Hizbullah-controlled Lebanon, some Islamic fundamentalist groups claim to dispatch terrorists to Lebanon and to target Jews worldwide.

An Indonesian Muslim group announced Tuesday that it had sent 20 of its members to Lebanon in order to join the Jihad against the Jewish state. The claim, made by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), was reported by the Associated Press, which warned that it had not been verified.

FPI spokesman Soleh Mahmoud said the 20 men left Indonesia five days ago and are now undergoing training in Lebanon under the supervision of Hizbullah. “They are ready to die to defend Muslims,” Mahmoud said.

On Friday, before the FPI announced that it had already sent Muslim fighters to Lebanon, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Desra Percaya said, “The government understands what they are feeling… anger, disappointment and frustration with Israeli troops acting inhumanly and brutally.” He said that while the government could not stop people from joining the war in Lebanon, the seriousness of threats to do so is questionable: “If you want to do something, you want to travel, you do not need to declare it publicly, just say, ‘In the name of God’ and then go.”

Last week, the Australian government announced that it was investigating a claim by another Indonesia-based Islamist group, the Asian Muslim Youth Movement (AMYM), that it had dispatched hundreds of Southeast Asian terrorist bombers to strike Jewish or infrastructure targets in countries such as Israel, the United States, Britain and Australia.

A leader of the AMYM, Suaib Bidu, told The Australian newspaper that 217 suicide bombers – financed by wealthy

Australian-Indonesian businessmen – had already been dispatched to their target countries, with thousands more prepared to set out. According to the report, more than 3,000 terrorists were to have been inducted on Saturday in the Indonesian city of Pontianak on Kalimantan Island.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (known as Ikhwaan in Arabic) has also claimed to have 10,000 volunteers ready to travel to Lebanon to fight the Israelis. Speaking to a conference organized by the Egyptian Scientists Association on August 2, Brotherhood leader Mohammad Mahdi Akef called on his co-religionists to “help the resistance in all its forms” in Lebanon and

in the Palestinian Authority.

Similarly, Yemen’s President Ali Abdallah Saleh told an Al-Jazeera interviewer on August 1, 2006: “I hope that all the countries bordering Israel, not just Syria, would enter the war. I mean the countries bordering with Israel. We will not enter the war officially, but we will open the borders to the fighters. We will allow the transfer of money and equipment to support the Lebanese resistance and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza. …This war has become a duty incumbent upon us.

Every Muslim has the individual duty to fight on this front.” (English transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute [MEMRI].)

Also speaking from Yemen, on an official visit to the country, Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) praised Hizbullah terrorists shortly after a lethal Katyusha rocket attack on northern Israel that killed 11 people. Abbas told reporters that the Hizbullah war has reawakened the Arab world’s honor and is an example for others to follow.

End Extract from Arutz Sheva Article

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It is not possible for the Lebanese Government to Drive Hizbollah Out!

August 10, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Lebanon has not been governed by its majority since its Civil War. It was governed by Syria until Assad and his security forces were forced out by international pressure, and it was governed by Hizbollah after Syria left. I am not talking about what appears in government records written on paper – I am talking about the way it was, and is, and will be, unless a multilateral force stronger than Hizbollah is placed in control of the Demilitarized Zone, which will come into place after Hizbollah is pushed out of the area it occupies. The puppet government in Beirut has been scared stiff of the Hizbollah terror army and, now that you have observed the difficulty the Israeli Army and Air Force has had in dislodging them, it is easy to understand why!

Once the Israelis do clear out a sufficient DMZ, there must be a force established in it that will give the regular Lebanese army confidence they can thumb their noses at Hizbollah and get away with it.

I do not think the Israelis will withdraw until such a scenario is in place.

Too much Israeli blood has been shed for this DMZ for them to simply show no regard for it.

Those of you who read our Blogs know I believe whatever way the crisis is settled makes no difference to what will initiate in the same area at some point in time between 2008 and 2012. The Middle East is headed down a one-way-street with a dead end – that dead end is Armageddon.

The following Excerpt from DEBKAfile is the best Military Analysis I have seen come out of the current conflict.

It is well worth reading.

Begin Excerpt from DEBKAfile

A High-Stakes Gamble or a Turning Point in the Lebanon War

DEBKAfile Exclusive Military Analysis

August 10, 2006, 2:09 AM (GMT+02:00)

Hassan Nasrallah’s recorded statement over Hizballah’s Al Manar television Wednesday night, August 9, at 20:15 local time, had a nail-biting audience: US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in Washington, French president Jacques Chirac at the Elysee in Paris, prime minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem and his Lebanese counterpart Fouad Siniora in Beirut.

He was also w atched closely by Maj-Gen Benny Gantz

at the defense ministry in Tel Aviv. Gantz had been entrusted a few hours earlier with taking charge of the newly-expanded Lebanon offensive which the Israeli security cabinet had just approved. Israeli ground forces were to head up north past the Litani River to seek out and destroy Hizballah’s rocket sites.

But until he was good and ready, the Hizballah leader kept everyone waiting to find out where he stood in the next stage of the Lebanon war that he triggered on July 12.

The day’s timetable tells the story:

At 16:00, the Israeli security cabinet approves by nine votes and 3 abstentions a new ground operation deep inside southern Lebanon as far as the Nabatea plateau and Arnoun on the northern bank of the Litatani River, roughly 45 km from the Israeli border. It was limited in time to 14 days. The action would start at a signal from the prime minister and defense minister Amir Peretz. They all knew that the extended operation had in fact begun several hours earlier and that Israeli ground forces had been fighting as far north as Qantara and al Khiam from the morning.

At 16:30, US undersecretary of state David Welch, who had arrived in Beirut Wednesday morning, was paying his second visit to PM Siniora. He informed him: If you can persuade Nasrallah to accept a broadened UNIFIL force to back up the Lebanese contingent in the south, then we can have our multinational force and save Lebanon from sinking further into a dangerous war.

But if you can’t, Israel will extend its invasion tonight and conquer more than a third of Lebanon.

DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources report that the Lebanese prime minister took

the point and promised to do his best to bring the Hizballah leader round.

Both were entirely frank; an emergency was clearly at hand and it was too late for diplomatic niceties. Siniora knew that the Americans had found out Monday from the Turks that Nasrallah had set up his war room in the Iranian embassy in Beirut under the protection of two Revolutionary Guards commando companies.

At 18:00, Siniora and the Shiite parliament speaker Nabih Berri hold a meeting with Nasrallah’s representatives, hoping to hear his answer to the proposal of an expanded UNIFIL that would pave the way to a halt in the fighting. But they are disappointed. The representatives say their chief has not authorized them to discuss the matter.

At 19:00, The Lebanese prime minister goes back to Welch to report that his efforts failed and the Israelis cannot be stopped from moving further north.

At 19:20, while they were talking, Al Manar interrupts its broadcasts to announce that Nasrallah will address the Lebanese people shortly. This was his eighth speech since the war began. They hoped the Hizballah chief would clear up the uncertainty surrounding his intentions.

Olmert reacted to Al Manar’s announcement by calling chief of staff Lt.-Gen Dan Halutz and asking him if the army was ready to move. The reply was that the units were ready to start rolling within minutes of receiving the order and would link up with the contingents already deep inside Lebanon.

Gen. Halutz then phoned Gen. Gantz to confirm that everything was ready.

At 20:20, the speech Nasrallah had recorded at the Iranian embassy went on air.

Twenty minutes into his harangue, he delivered his reply: Under no circumstances would he accept a multinational force in South Lebanon. He warned the Lebanese prime minister not to give an inch on this issue.

Siniora had no choice but to obey.

Thus, in a few words, the Hizbalah leader scotched the US-French attempt to generate a UN Security Council resolution that would wind the conflict down by calling for a ceasefire and the deployment of a multinational force, followed by an Israeli withdrawal.

At 21:30, Condoleezza Rice calls Olmert and informs him that her undersecretary had come away from his Beirut mission empty-handed and there is no bar to him giving the signal to launch the next stage of the Lebanon offensive.

At 22:20, A massive movement of Israeli ground troops and tanks begins thundering across into Lebanon.

DEBKAfile’s military sources note that Nasrallah in throwing down the gauntlet is undertaking the biggest gamble of his life. A defeat at Israeli hands would finish him and his militia off for the foreseeable future. At the same time, he does not have to beat Israel to claim victory; it is enough for him to hold on for another month and keep up his rocket offensive against northern Israel to come out on top.

On paper, his chances of success look slim.

His troops are still fighting but they are exhausted and, two weeks ago, Nasrallah threw the last of his trained professional reserves into the fray. The forces stacked against him are formidable.

But it is worth keeping in mind that the Hizballah chief is a whiz at concocting tactical surprises and may still have one or two up his sleeve. Furthermore, he is backed by the full logistical and military might of Iran’s radical Revolutionary Guards.

Therefore, Nasrallah is not the only side throwing all his chips on the table; so too is Ehud Olmert.

The Israeli army has had a bad month, culminating Wednesday in the highest death toll on the battlefield in 30 days – 15 dead and 34 injured – 7 seriously. Nine belonged to special operations units.

Olmert will be gambling on the IDF’s ability to wrench the wheel round and start winning.

A similar feat saved the day in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when after a row of disastrs in Sinai, Israeli units managed to outflank the Egyptian army and drive forward across the Suez Canal up to 101 kilometers from Cairo. It is up to the Israeli army to cross the Litani River and strike forward up to the Aouli River, crushing the Hizballah as it advances.

End DEBKAfile Report

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