blog.Tribulationperiod.com

History has a Way of Repeating Itself!

Ahmadinejad is President in

Persian Iran – Purim is upon us – We have a sort of Rerun of an Ancient Event – I believe it will have the same type of Ending for Ahmadinejad as it did for Biblical Haman!

February 28, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

The article by Rosenberg in the Jerusalem Post is certainly a timely one, and clever in its present day adaptation to the ancient Esther story, now being replayed in the Middle East. According to Scripture, Haman was not able to eliminate God’s people from the earth by his treachery, nor will Ahmadinejad be able to do it. Just as Haman was eliminated from the face of the earth by the God of Israel, so will Ahmadinejad, or any other person, suffer the same fate when attempting to eliminate Israel.

Begin Jerusalem Post Article

From Haman to ‘Ahmad-i-nejad’

Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg, THE JERUSALEM POST

February 27, 2007

The Purim story, which takes place at the very end of the Babylonian Exile, has a good historical core: Ahasuerus is Xerxes I – in Persian Chashavarsha – who spent his first years subduing Egypt and failing to conquer Greece.

Thus he could only marry Esther in his seventh year, perhaps to console himself for his defeat in Greece. Ahasuerus spent the rest of his reign building palaces, and for that he needed money.

With Haman’s help he tried to raise cash from the Jews, which Haman promised to get out of them within the year, which was the term of his chancellorship. Under the Persian system the courtiers took it in turns to rule the cabinet for one year.

Why was Haman anti-Semitic when the Persian Empire as a whole showed tolerance and acceptance of other cultures?

The empire was so large, stretching from India (Hodu) to Nubia (Kush) that conformity was impossible. Xerxes and his father, Darius, had imported foreign craftsmen to build their palaces in Susa, and these included Jewish gold and silversmiths.

They lived well – better than the local peasants.

This element probably joined with the many other Jews who had remained behind from the Exile after the destruction of the First Temple. They had become wealthy merchants and even bankers, living in the mighty Persian cities. They kept to themselves in business as well as in religion and their success must have attracted envy and even hatred in such centers as the royal Persian summer capital of Shush.

CHANCELLOR Haman planned to exploit this and made his move, to raise money under threat of death, from the hated Jews of Susa.

Haman was a foreigner, an Agagite, but he had had the sense to make his name attractive to the ruling class by adopting one that was the core of “Hachamanish,” founder of the royal Persian dynasty of the Achaemanids.

He also had the good sense to marry a local girl, whose name, Zeresh, in Persian means “the golden one.” Haman, in fact, had made himself more Persian than the Persians.

As chancellor he now promised to boost royal revenues before the end of his term – the end of the Hebrew month of Adar. He used the tool of anti-Semitism to fuel his dastardly plan, but thanks to his exposure by the queen it failed. But the hatred engendered in the royal summer capital of Shush outlasted his own death, and the Jews had to fight for their lives, particularly in Shushan.

THE THEME of Purim, the threat of annihilation and ultimate salvation, has played itself out over and over again in Jewish history. In happened, for instance, in Ptolemaic Egypt, according to the Third Book of Maccabees, when Ptolemy IV Philopator turned against the Jews.

After his stunning victory over the forces of Antiochus III at Rafiah in 217 BCE, he visited Jerusalem in triumph and requested to enter the Temple and the Holy of Holies as a mark of gratitude.

To his astonishment, Ptolemy was refused by the priests. Such an insult was not to be borne and Ptolemy took his revenge on the Jews of Alexandria by concentrating them all in the Hippodrome and forcing them to stay there until he had mustered his army and their elephants to trample them to death.

Came the auspicious day and the troops plied their elephants with drink to egg them on to charge into the crowd of defenseless Jews – men, women and children.

As the order to advance was given, the drunken elephants hesitated, turned and stampeded over their tormentors, crushing the Egyptian army underfoot and leaving the Jews standing in wonder.

THEN THERE was Purim in Frankfort-on-Main in 1612. The good citizens and artisans petitioned against the Jews of the ghetto, to whom they were in debt, to have the standard rates of interest reduced on their loans.

The local senate did not agree and hatred of the Jews

festered, enabling the local guildmaster, Vinzenz Fettmilch, to send a petition to the emperor accusing the senate of protecting the Jews.

The petition was rejected, but Fettmilch incited the rabble to attack the ghetto. The gates were torn down and for their own protection the Jews were herded into the cemetery while the rabble went on the rampage and ransacked every house in the Jewish quarter.

Eventually the mayor and his troops evacuated most of the Jews out of the city, but not until two of their number had been killed.

The matter came to the court, the emperor sided with the Jews, had Fettmilch and four accomplices tried and beheaded, and ordered the Jews to be brought back to their ghetto to the sound of pipes and drums.

That was in March 1616, five days

after the festival of Purim.

MODERN TEHERAN is less than 500 km. from Shush. Its present ruler, Ahmadinejad, is aiming “to wipe Israel off the map.” It is not clear why he maintains this mantra, but it seems to be to keep himself in power without having the bother of helping his own people to better their living conditions. He denies the Holocaust, which killed millions of Jews, while seeking nuclear weapons to make it a reality anew, even if only by threats. He strives for this weaponry in order to become champion of the Arab world. But he is no Arab, he is a Persian, a Farsi, one of the Arabs’ age-old enemies. So he has adopted an Islamic name, meaning “most praiseworthy‚” in Arabic, plus “son of” in Persian.

Ahmadinejad is a Persian thriving on a manufactured anti-Semitism foreign to the history of his own people. However hard he tries, he cannot deny his own roots, which are not the roots of Islam; and thus he is likely to fail in his ambition to lead the Arab world.

With his pretensions to be an Arab his people will reject him and seek to divert the enormous funds now earmarked for nuclear capability to social projects and the rebuilding of Persian cities like the ancient Bam, devastated by earthquake and other natural disasters.

Haman was a foreigner who tried to be more Persian than the Persians, and failed. Ptolemy tried to be too close to the Jews, was rejected by the custodians of the Temple, turned against the Jews, and failed. Fettmilch tried to be more anti-Semitic than his emperor, could not carry the establishment with him, and failed.

“Ahmad-i-nejad” is a Persian who is trying to be more Arabic than the Arabs. Let us pray he also fails.

The writer is a fellow at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem.

End Jerusalem Post Article

The following Scriptures give a good account of Queen Esther’s bravery in being led by the God of Israel to put her life on the line for the safety of her people by deliverance from wicked Haman.

Esther 4:7-17 to 5:3 – And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. [8] Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people. [9] And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. [10] Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai; [11] All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. [12] And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words. [13] Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. [14] For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? [15] Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, [16] Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

[17] So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. [1] Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house. [2] And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. [3] Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.

The following New Testament parallel of Messiah extending his Sceptre to all those who would come before him requesting his deliverance and salvation for sin, is the joy of my existence.

A King Who Is a Star and a Sceptre of Righteousness!

The sceptre (modern English scepter) was the symbol of the authority of the ancient kings. It was a rod or staff, a badge of authority, the proper ensign of sovereignty. It was held when the king sat on his throne, when directing battle from his portable command post throne, and on solemn occasions of state.

The wise men had come seeking the king who would one day carry the sceptre of Israel.

Matthew 2:1,2 – Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, [2] Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

As indicated in Prophecy Update 149A, the wise men had seen the star on the western horizon, from their position in the east, probably between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. As indicated in 149A, they most likely had been looking for the new star, the symbol of a king’s birth, for the reasons I gave in the Numbers 24:17 exposition.

Numbers 24:17 – I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel,

The Star symbolized the King’s birth, and the Sceptre an indication of the God-given ensign of his right to rule. It is interesting to note how the Persian kings, and others, used the sceptre to grant favor or death. The way they used it could instantly give life or death to their subjects. One such account of this is recorded in Esther. If one of his subjects came into his presence in the inner court of his throne room without his invitation, it was a life or death situation for that individual. If the king did not extend his sceptre to them so they could receive it, they were put to death. If he extended it to them and they received it, they were granted life.

Esther 4:11 – All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

Esther was tested, put on the spot! Was she going to go into the king unannounced, and risk death to plea for the people of Israel, or was she going to simply try to keep her own life. Her final words in Esther 4:15,16 bear the record of the choice she made. She was willing to perish in order for her people to live.

Esther 4:15,16 – Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, [16] Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which IS NOT according to the law: AND IF I PERISH, I PERISH.

Esther 5:1-3 – Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house. [2] And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. [3] Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.

The King of all believers, the Sceptre who came out of Israel did the same for us, and in so doing, he perished for us, and has promised to share his coming kingdom with us.

Luke 12:32 – Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Our King of kings, went before the High Priest, before the Governor, Pontius Pilate, before King Herald, for all believers, knowing he would perish and bear our sins on the cross to deliver us from spiritual death, and provide us with a place in his kingdom. He has spoken to us in these last New Testament days by our King, his Son, and his Son has held out his Sceptre to all who will accept his favor. Those who receive his held out Sceptre, receive eternal life in union with him. Those who refuse his held out Sceptre remain in spiritual death forever.

John 1:11-14 – He came unto his own, and his own received him not. [12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: [13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

[14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Hebrews 1:2,3,8 – Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; [3] Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; [9] But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

His extended sceptre is his own personal righteousness, without which no man can come into his presence. He held out his sceptre to me 59 years ago, and I, a sinner, condemned, and unclean, received his favor, his mercy, his forgiveness, and his personal righteousness. I am still a sinner in the flesh, but his righteousness lives in my soul, and he will never leave, nor forsake me.

Romans 3:20-26 – Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. [21] But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; [22] Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: [23] For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [24] Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: [25] Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; [26] To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

I am one of the subjects of the King of kings, who has granted me the eternal favor of his sceptre. And his kingdom will soon come on this earth.

I want to serve him in this coming kingdom, and I am persuaded he will assign me a work in his kingdom directly proportional to the degree I was willing to work for him in one of his churches in this present church age.

Ephesians 2:22 – In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Ephesians 3:21 – Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.

Amen.

Revelation 22:16 – I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.

I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

Revelation 2:26-29 – And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: [27] And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. [28] And I will give him the morning star. [29] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Psalm 2:6-12 – Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

[7] I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. [8] Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. [9] Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. [10] Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

[11] Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. [12] Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Have you received his extended sceptre?)

Romans 10:13 – For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

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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.

Headed for a Hudna False Peace in Israel!

February 28, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

I have been waiting for a false peace to arrive on the scene in Israel for almost 40 years.

While there has been, and will continue to be, “many a slip betwixt the cup an the lip,” I do believe it is finally on the immediate horizon in Israel.

Since the last century, beginning in the 1970’s, I have believed the most likely time frame for the prophesied false peace to arrive in Israel would fall in a 2003 to 2012 time frame. By 2002 events made it apparent that it was unlikely to happen in the early part of that window, and I shifted it to the latter portion.

I have been guesstimating for some time that false peace, followed by a vicious Jihad from the north, would occur at some point in time between 2008 and 2012. I see nothing on the horizon to make me change my mind. The peoples, nations, immorality, hatred, geographical area, political elements, military plans, positioning of the necessary weaponry, and all of the other essential ingredients are in place, just as the Scriptures indicated they would be in the last days

Five things are happening in the Middle East that are encouraging me to believe a false peace will arrive in the 2008 to 2012 time frame: (1) The Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) is weakening on their demands that Hamas recognize the existence of Israel as a state, renounce terror, and honor past agreements between the PA and Israel, as a prerequi site

to beginning peace talks with Israel, (2) The Israeli Government seems to be yielding to US pressure behind the scenes to negotiate with the PA, (3) The real leader of Hamas, Damascus based Mashaal, has promised Russia that Hamas will stop the rocket attacks against Israel, (4) Hamas is desperate to get the billions flowing again into PA coffers where they can get their hands on it, and (5) Hamas wants a hudna (false peace truce) to have the time to build up their forces in Gaza and the West Bank, in order to be a part of a great Jihad attack against Israel when they break the hudna to join the 10 Arab nation war led by Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Hizbullah.

Please take the time to read the following two Jerusalem Post articles from which the four following paragraph quotes were extracted.

Two Paragraph Quote from Article 1

“[The Quartet has demanded that any new Palestinian government recognize Israel’s right to exist, which Hamas has failed

to do.

However, since the power-sharing deal worked out this month, there has appeared to be a softening in the stance of some EU countries toward Hamas.]”

Two Paragraph Quote from Article 2

“[The fact that the Islamic leaders have agreed to a long-term hudna, provided

that a Palestinian state is created within the 1967 armistice lines, shows that the vast majority of Palestinians, Arab countries, the US and the international community are all in agreement about the two-state solution.

WHAT IS missing now is for the Israelis to agree to begin talks on how to accomplish this goal. Bush did declare it to be one that his administration was hoping to accomplish.

]”

Begin Jerusalem Post Article Number 1

Mashaal promises that Hamas will end rocket attacks

Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST

February 27, 2007

Hamas leader in exile Khaled Mashaal has promised that it will end missile attacks and other violence against Israel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.

“Hamas should use its authority to stop violence including missile attacks against Mashaal. “We received confirmation that such steps will be taken,” Lavrov said.

Earlier, Mashaal said that the group is not ready to recognize Israel, which has been a key demand of international peace negotiators.

“First of all, Israel has to end its occupation of Palestinian territory and put an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people,” Khaled Mashaal said when asked about recognition of Israel during a news conference at the close of a trip to Russia.

“When Israel does that, the Palestinian people will make their position clear,” Mashaal said.

Russia – the most pro

-Hamas member of the so-called Quartet of Middle East peace brokers, which includes Russia, the EU, the United Nations and the United States – will work for international support of the Palestinian Authority power-sharing arrangement and for the lifting of Lavrov said earlier Tuesday.

Russia favors the agreement between Hamas and the Fatah group to share power because it shows “wisdom, reason and responsibility before the Palestinian people,” Lavrov said before a meeting with Mashaal.

“We are pushing for all members of the international community to support this process and make it irreversible, including efforts to lift the blockade,” Lavrov added.

Millions of dollars in crucial foreign aid were cut off after Hamas, which the European Union, United States and others consider a terrorist group, gained control of the Cabinet and the legislature in January 2006 elections.

The Quartet has demanded that any new Palestinian government recognize Israel’s right to exist, which Hamas has failed to do.

However, since the power-sharing deal worked out this month, there has appeared to be a softening in the stance of some EU countries toward Hamas.

Begin Excerpt from Jerusalem Post Article Number 2

Support the Mecca agreement

Daoud Kuttab, THE JERUSALEM POST

February 26, 2007

It gives me pleasure, but at the same time it is kind of sad, to see the Israelis and the Americans squirming. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has flip-flopped from stating that his government neither supported nor opposed the Mecca agreement to trying to bypass US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice by going directly to her boss to insist on the boycott of the yet-to-be-established Palestinian national unity government.

The Mecca agreement represents a clear shift in Hamas’s alignment, from the Iranian-Syria axis to the Saudi side. In response, however, US diplomats complain that this agreement “complicates things.”

This is a shameful position.

It is a shame for a superpower to say that the outcome of a democratic election – isn’t that supposed to be Bush’s legacy? – and a deal for
Palestinian unity aimed at ending internal Palestinian bloodletting and saving lives “complicates things.”

It is shameful that the Americans are demanding of Palestinians what they have not demanded of the Lebanese, Saudis or even of the Iraqi regime operating under US occupation.

Washington has not demanded that sovereign Arab countries recognize Israel. But it is demanding that a government that is not sovereign recognize the very state that is occupying its land – a state whose borders have yet to be determined.

PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas and his Hamas interlocutors understood the international community’s insistence that new governments honor the agreements of previous governments, and this has happened.

So the issue of what to do with

the upcoming national unity government should not even have come up in tripartite meeting.

Rice, Olmert and Abbas had agreed weeks earlier to meet in order to kick-start direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. All the elements for these negotiations had been in place for some time.

Ever since the death of Yasser Arafat,

the Israelis have dragged their feet in agreeing on the resumption of permanent status talks.

The Mecca agreements strongly support Abbas in his mission to deal with the Israelis.

The Hamas-Fatah agreement clearly identifies the PLO as the party entrusted to continue negotiations.

The fact that the Islamic leaders have agreed to a long-term hudna, provided that a Palestinian state is created within the 1967 armistice lines, shows that the vast majority of Palestinians, Arab countries, the US and the international community are all in agreement about the two-state solution.

WHAT IS missing now is for the Israelis to agree to begin talks on how to accomplish this goal. Bush did declare it to be one that his administration was hoping to accomplish.

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.

Another End Time Money Making Episode from Fractured Fairy Tales

February 27, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
To some unbelievers the only good thing about Lord Jesus is their most ungodly talent to use him to make money for them. Ironically, and also unfortunately, that is the best thing about Jesus to some religious TV evangelists.

The number of fractured fables coming out of news designed to bring in the bucks, does indeed seem to be increasing in these last days, while we find ourselves muddling through life on our way to finally seeing the true reality of the ages manifested.

II Peter 3:3,4 – Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, [4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

II Timothy 4:2-4 – Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

I Timothy 6:5-10 – Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain

is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. [6] But godliness with contentment is great gain. [7] For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. [8] And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

[9] But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. [10] For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

II Thessalonians 2:11,12 – And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: [12] That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The article which follows is an excellent editorial by David Horovitz in the Jerusalem Post. After much disputing and angry frustration from the pros, the cons, and neutrals, and when all the bucks possible have been squeezed out of this latest so called documentary, it will be laid to rest alongside its countless other fables on the subject, and we can await the next attack on the Scriptures.

Begin Jerusalem Post Article

Raiders of the Lost Tomb

David Horovitz, THE JERUSALEM POST

February 27, 2007

Simcha Jacobovici certainly knows how to construct a dramatic movie.

His new documentary, The Lost Tomb of Jesus, employs dramatized reconstructions of Biblical-era events, lavishly filmed.

The voice-over is at once warm and authoritative. The graphics are sleek – ancient inscriptions leap off from the sides of dusty burial boxes and glow on the screen, with accompanying whooshes and fizzes from the sound effects department.

The narrative is effectively told. Complex historical connections and arguments are presented in short, comprehensible segments, interspersed with modern drama as we flash to this DNA lab, Jacobovici engages that skeptical archeological expert or, in the film’s central red herring, the team seek entry to what turns out to be the wrong tomb.

The key evidence is introduced piece by piece, or in this case bone box by inscribed bone box, with appropriate statistical support. At one point the staggering assertion is made that there is a 1 in 97,280,000 chance of the Talpiot burial chamber at issue not being the final resting place of Jesus, his mother, his wife (yes, wife), his brother and other relatives.

By the end, that figure is qualified to a 1 in 30,000 chance, again, of this not being the burial tomb of the founder of Christianity, and by now the bone box of Jesus’s son (that’s right, son; we’ve veered dangerously near to Da Vinci Code territory by now) has been introduced into the mix as well.

And through the heart of the movie strides Jacobovici himself, a tall, striking, likable figure. Here he is, marveling as he first sees the “Jesus son of Joseph” inscription on the ossuary that has been left out so casually on a shelf in the Israel Antiquities Authority storehouse in Beit Shemesh. Watch him as he switches effortlessly back and forth between English and Hebrew, and between the languages, for that matter, of archeology, New Testament study and forensic testing. And who can resist him jumping excitedly, fearlessly, into the newly reopened Talpiot tomb (the right one this time)?

Camera crews in tow, Jacobovici tracks back through history – part intellectual, part adventurer: Indiana Jones the investigative journalist.

Even Prof.

Amos Kloner, the Jerusalem District archeologist who oversaw the handling of the Talpiot tomb when it was first uncovered, in 1980, amid construction work in the Jerusalem neighborhood of East Talpiot, found Jacobovici’s charm and enthusiasm irresistible. Kloner told me on Saturday night that he thought Jacobovici “very likable.”

But the effect of Jacobovici’s assertions, of course, if you find them compelling, is to make an absolute incompetent of Kloner and, indeed, of the whole Israeli archeological establishment, who failed to recognize that they had stumbled upon one of the greatest discoveries of all time – the final resting place of a man revered by millions upon millions of believers across the millennia, of his revered mother, his wife, his family. Worse still, they were incompetents who sent away whatever remained of the great man’ s mortal coil for routine Jewi

sh burial elsewhere.

Unsurprisingly, Kloner is having none of it. The film, to him, is a scam. Absurd. Unscientific. “Give me scientific evidence,” he said in our conversation, “and I’ll grapple with it.” But Jacobovici’s findings? “Impossible,” he said. “Nonsense,” he snorted. “He’s inventing a story.”

THE LOST Tomb of Jesus, which will be broadcast locally next week on Channel 8, is a tale of 10 bone boxes, the ossuaries carried away and catalogued by those Jerusalem archeologists under Kloner’s supervision from a 2,000-year-old burial chamber, its entrance marked by a strange inverted chevron (Da Vinci time again) with a circle in it, that today lies sealed beneath an unremarkable rectangular concrete slab between two rows of apartment blocs a short drive into East Talpiot.

The first Talpiot ossuary that Jacobovici talks us through on screen is that purportedly of Jesus himself. Kloner told me the inscription on this box was far from conclusively decipherable.

Harvard scholar Frank Moore Cross, a professor emeritus in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, is adamant, however, in the movie. “I have no real doubt,” he says, that the lettering reads, “Jesus son of Joseph.” Not good enough for Kloner. He knows of four ossuaries, he told me, that bear precisely such an inscription.

But Jacobovici has more – much more.

Ossuary 2 is inscribed with the name of Mary – presumably the Virgin Mary, to whom Christian tradition, the film assures us, often ascribes a Jerusalem burial.

Ossuary 3 is trickier.

“Matia,” the inscription reads – apparently a nickname for Matthew. It’s a name, the filmmakers acknowledge, that “at first doesn’t seem to fit.” To the rescue comes James Tabor, the chairman of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a historical and archeological consultant on the Jacobovici project. Mary’s ancestry, as documented in the Gospel of Luke, Tabor notes, features five, six, seven or more variants of Matthew down the generations, “so I don’t think it’s odd that we would have a Matthew in this tomb,” he pronounces. Except that it is odd, since while the filmmakers have already told us that various Christian traditions give Jesus sisters (Miriam and Salome) and brothers (Simon, Judah, James and Joseph), there is no credible text mention or even tradition of a blood-relative named Matthew, a relative close enough to put in your family burial chamber.

No matter, we’re on to Ossuary 4. This one is inscribed “Jose” (with a “Heh” on the end). Triumphant now, Tabor tells us that Jesus’s brother Joseph is referred to by precisely this nickname in the gospel of Mark.

Ossuary 5 is problematic, too. While the other inscriptions are in Hebrew or Aramaic, this one is in Greek. It’s another Mary, but with a twist – a curious variant spelled “Mariamne e Mara” – which might be translated as “Mary known as the master.”

This is where Jacobovici’s investigative journalism credentials come to the fore. As he told me in a telephone interview, “The people who say I am not an archeologist are absolutely right. I’m an investigative journalist. I put the dots together. The Acts of Philip guys didn’t know about the [Talpiot] ossuaries and the ossuary guys didn’t know about the Acts of Philip.

The Acts of Philip to which he is referring is a 4th century text that deals with the apostles and with a certain Mariamne, sister of the apostle Philip. Francois Bovon, professor of the history of religion at Harvard University, who discovered the most complete version ever found of the Acts of Philip, tells Jacobovici on film that this Mariamne is none other than Mary Magdalene.

What would she be doing in the Jesus family burial cave? Scraping samples from the “Jesus” and “Mariamne” ossuaries, the filmmakers manage to extricate sufficient material for DNA testing.

The conclusion: the two corpses were not blood relatives. So they must have been a couple.

This now thoroughly Da Vinci Code-esque assertion is made soon after that staggering 1 in 97,280,000 statistic has flashed up at us – the odds, we are initially told, that this resonant collection of names is not the Jesus family at rest.

But the figure is quickly qualified by Andrey Feuerverger, professor of statistics and mathematics at the University of Toronto.

Feuerverger, sensible man that he is, doesn’t buy the “Matia” explanation at all, and so excises poor “Matia” from his calculations.

And he performs various other refinements to reduce the margin of error. Once he’s done, and provided the Mariamne ossuary is conclusively tied to Mary Magdalene, we’re told, the figure is down to 1 in 600 – that is, a one in 600 chance that this is anybody but the Jesus family.

Ossuary 6 puts the icing on the cake. This was the bone box of a child, and is inscribed “Judah son of Jesus.” The New Testament, we are reminded somewhat unnecessarily, doesn’t say Jesus had a son. But perhaps, the film suggests hopefully, archeology in this instance “forces us to throw a new light on the New Testament.” It would only be natural, it is argued somewhat plaintively, for the offspring of Jesus and Mary Magdalene to be hidden, his very existence kept secret, when he would have been the target of arrest and crucifixion.

MANY OF the revelations in this documentary, as The Jerusalem Post pointed out on Sunday, are not new at all. They were, rather, first raised a little over a decade ago – supposedly shocking discoveries of a confluence of names on bone boxes that went to the root of Christianity, as hyped in a BBC documentary, in a London Sunday Times feature (“The Tomb That Dare Not Speak Its Name”) and in headlines around the world.

What Jacobovici and his Hollywood executive producer James Cameron have added, however, is both drama and apparent scholarly and scientific reinforcement: the filmed reconstructions, the arguments with the Israeli establishment experts, that DNA testing, those statistical models. And, of course, they got back into the tomb itself: They pry off the concrete slab, clamber down the metal ladder, stare at the strange inverted “chevron” over the entrance, and excitedly explore the interior – which was used as a geniza (burial place for holy texts) by a nearby yeshiva before the site was first resealed – until a spoil-sport IAA official arrives to tell them to get the hell back out again.

Where Jacobovici and co. break further controversial new ground, however, is by inserting the so-called “James” ossuary into this already incendiary mix. This is the bone box produced five years ago by Israeli collector Oded Golan, and purportedly inscribed with the words “James son of Joseph brother of Jesus.” Golan said he had bought it from an Arab dealer in the Old City decades earlier and had not initially realized its significance.

Although the ossuary still has its supporters, the IAA has branded it a forgery, and Golan has been charged with running a forgery ring – charges he has denied.

Jacobovici made a documentary on the James ossuary in 2003. Tabor has written at length about it.

Now, the new documentary claims that one of the 10 Talpiot ossuaries went missing after being catalogued by the IAA, and that it may be none other than the James ossuary. The provenance of all or part of the inscription on this ossuary may be contested, the filmmakers acknowledge, but the box itself is genuine, and its dimensions match those of the alleged disappeared 10th ossuary. Tabor has written elsewhere that “The dimensions of the missing tenth ossuary are precisely the same, to the centimeter, to those of the James Ossuary.”

What’s more, the filmmakers compared the “patina” build up on the James ossuary with the patina on ossuaries indisputably from the Talpiot tomb. And, guess what? It’s identical – the same chemical and mineral “spikes” on the most sophisticated comparative analyses.

“We’re speculating,” Tabor joyfully allows on screen. “But the time is right and name is right!”

As you’d imagine, the addition of brother James only deepens the alleged statistical near-certainty.

Only a 1 in 30,000 chance now, we’re told, that this isn’t Jesus and family.

Except that Prof. Kloner insisted to the Post that no inscribed ossuary had disappeared from the Talpiot tomb, and that the measurements of the James ossuary do not match those of the Talpiot finds.

THE TALPIOT tomb lies silent today beneath its unremarkable seal at the bottom of a small East Talpiot stairway. The filmmakers inscribed the initials of their company, Associated Producers, into the drying concrete as they closed it up.

Since word of the imminent publicity storm began to leak over the past few days, neighbors have been keeping watch over it from their apartments. “We should be charging you an entrance fee,” one man called out from a top-floor window when I went past a few days ago.

He recalled that the tomb had been kept open for a long time after its initial discovery, and that it had been reopened twice in the past year or so. Who knows what pressure will build now to open it again?

Kloner is dismissive of Jacobovici and his “manufactured” movie. Jacobovici argues that it’s just that kind of contemptuous, dismissive attitude that led the “experts” to miss the true significance of their discovery in the first place, and that, with his crew of archeologists and academics and statisticians and scientists, he has “joined the dots” as they could have done 27 years ago.

“We’ve done our homework, we’ve made the case,” Cameron has asserted. “Now it’s time for the debate to begin.”

And so it doubtless will. The Lost Tomb of Jesus juggernaut is rolling. And dismissive derision is not going to stop it now.

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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.

Syria ready to aggressively respond

to an Israeli thrust from the South!

February 27, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Twice in the Jerusalem Post article, which follows, a reference to the likelihood of Syria responding aggressively to an Israeli push from the south is clearly stated. Does that sound familiar?

Daniel 11:40 – 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.

The prophecies in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Daniel were all still future events when Daniel wrote his book.

They have all since been fulfilled through verse 35, and we are now waiting for the manifestation of the willful king of verse 36, who will lead a 10 nation coalition of Arab nations against Israel. My guesstimate is that their attack is likely to be launched at some point in time between 2008 and 2012.

The “king of the south” will occupy a part of the land assigned to the Ptolemaic kings from BC 323 to 167, and the “king of the north” will occupy a part of the land occupied by the Seleucid kings during the same period. The “king of the south” today therefore is Israel, and the “king of the north” is Syria and Lebanon (Greater Syria). (See Morning Blog for February 23, 2007).

Begin Jerusalem Post Article

Olmert tells defense heads to prepare for war with Syria

Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST

February 25, 2007

While chances for all-out war with Syria in 2007 are deemed low by Israel’s top intelligence officials, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert instructed the defense establishment on Sunday to prepare for the possibility.

The cabinet heard intelligence assessments from the Mossad, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Military Intelligence, the National Security Council and the Foreign Ministry.

Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin opened the briefing and told the ministers

that “Israel is surrounded by negative processes… that create more instability in the Middle East than in the past.”

Yadlin and Mossad head Meir Dagan agreed that the chances for war with Syria are low, but they differed concerning the sincerity of Damascus’s calls for peace talks.

Yadlin said the chances that Syria would initiate an all-out conventional war “like the Yom Kippur and Six Day Wars” was low, although it was likely that President Bashar Assad would respond aggressively to any Israeli action along the border.

In June, IAF warplanes buzzed Assad’s summer home to convey a message to Syria to use its influence with Hamas to release captive IDF Cpl.

Gilad Schalit. The overflight prompted no reaction from Syria, but intelligence officials told the cabinet Sunday that if such a flight was made now, it would be met with an aggressive Syrian response.

“The chances for a full-scale Syrian-initiated war are low,” Yadlin told the ministers. “The chances are high, however, that Syria would respond militarily to Israeli acts.”

Dagan agreed, saying in his briefing he did not believe Israel would go to war in 2007.

He supported the IDF’s forecast that while Syria would not initiate a war, it

would respond to Israel operations. He refrained from elaborating, but officials said that war could erupt in response to a renewed conflict with Hizbullah or to IDF action in Syria.

“I want us to be ready, even in the areas where the probability for a conflict are low,” Olmert told the ministers, adding that in the next few weeks, he plans to begin a series of security consultations on practical conclusions drawn from the annual intelligence assessment.

Military Intelligence warned the global Jihad movement saw Israel as a target, and that Sunni-Shi’ ite tensions could spread throughout the region.

While discounting chances of an all-out Middle East war, Mossad officials warned that a premature US pullout from Iraq could trigger chaos there and throughout the region.

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said a Palestinian unity government would not end the friction between the Hamas and Fatah. The agency said there was also no chance that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas would rein in terrorist organizations like Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

The Foreign Ministry representatives warned that Islamic radicals were trying to inflame the Arab world, and this could trigger violence in the region. The US was trying to correct an image of weakness, brought about by its failure in Iraq, by promoting Arab moderates, while Russia was trying to re-establish its influence in the region, they said.

Military Intelligence and the Mossad accused Iran of leading an axis of evil in the Middle East and of aiding anti-Israel terrorist groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah.

Olmert said the Islamic Republic was further than it claimed from crossing the nuclear technological threshold but “closer to it than Israel would prefer.”

AP contributed to the report.

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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.

Known Political Expectations merged with Intelligence Reports usually produces a Massaged Assessment matching the Desires of the Rulers!

February 25, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

As I read the excellent article by Anshel Pfeffer in the Jerusalem Post, it brought back a lot of my days as a synoptic analyst in the U.S. National Security Agency. Any analyst who tells you that the known desires of the men in the chain, through which the report must pass, are not a part of what is written at the bottom of the chain, is lying or guilty of having learned self-brainwashing. By the time most intelligence reports reach the highest decision making level in politically motivated governments, there is so much “cover your backside,” “what do they want to hear,” and “how can I avoid telling them I really don’t have any idea,” worked in to the intelligence assessment, it ends up being a mass of confusion, which allows the government leaders

to do whatever they want to do! I would say that the following two paragraphs from Pfeffer’s article are a good example of what I have just stated.

Begin Quote

“[So the national assessment is delivered, not for the ministers’ benefit, but for PR purposes. The intelligence chiefs want to warn the public and to cover themselves in case something bad happens.

On the other hand, they don’t want to be seen as scaremongers.

So they write that there is a low likelihood of war this year but Iran is continuing full speed ahead with its bomb, Syria is ready to initiate an attack of its own, Hizbullah is rebuilding and the Palestinians are founding their terror-state in Gaza. In other words, you can be calm, because we don’t think there will be a war, but not too calm, since we wouldn’t be surprised if one did break out.]”

End Quote

Begin Jerusalem Post Article

What intelligence assessments don’t say

Anshel Pfeffer, THE JERUSALEM POST

February 25, 2007

Only a year ago, the annual national intelligence assessment was an exclusive affair.

The sole purview of the commander of IDF Military Intelligence, it was presented to the security cabinet, its contents secret.

Mossad chief Meir Dagan fought to be allowed to insert more of his organization’s input into the annual assessment, and ministers who were not members of the security cabinet vied to be present at the intelligence presentation.

The 2007 version was a free-for-all, with no less than five intelligence and security agencies presenting their forecasts to the full cabinet, and with the press fully briefed.

This depreciation of the national intelligence assessment is a result of two factors.

The first, naturally, is the second Lebanon war, the resulting finger-pointing and the recent revelations in the media and before the Winograd Commission on who said what and when about Hizbullah and their intentions.

Those who might be hauled up before the next commissi on now want every word

on the record.

The second reason for the change is that since none of

the leaders of the coalition and few of the cabinet members have a substantial defense or intelligence grounding that would enable them to challenge the intelligence chiefs, they might as well hold the assessment in a larger forum, where the politicians at least have strength in numbers.

Actually, there were two assessments.

The first was presented exclusively to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz a few weeks ago. It probably included details that mere ministers aren’t to be trusted with. Olmert and Peretz don’t really need a special annual assessment, anyway, as Olmert is updated weekly by the chiefs of the Mossad and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and Peretz has IDF Military Intelligence brief him on a regular basis.

Sometimes the military uses the assessment to frighten its political masters into voting additional defense budgets. There’s no need for that this year; after the lack of equipment and training highlighted by the summer’s war, the IDF is getting whatever it requests.

So the national assessment is delivered, not for the ministers’ benefit, but for PR purposes. The intelligence chiefs want to warn the public and to cover themselves in case something bad happens. On the other hand, they don’t want to be seen as scaremongers.

So they write that there is a low likelihood of war this year but Iran is continuing full speed ahead with its bomb, Syria is ready to initiate an attack of its own, Hizbullah is rebuilding and the Palestinians are founding their terror-state in Gaza. In other words, you can be calm, because we don’t think there will be a war, but not too calm, since we wouldn’t be surprised if one did break out.

The annual assessment analyzes trends and intentions in neighboring countries and among Israel’s enemies, but these are largely known quantities. No fundamental change can be expected in Arab or Persian thinking.

The two countries that wield the greatest potential to influence the future of the region over the next year are not covered by the official mandate of the intelligence services.

Israel and the United States could bring about the most significant change in the relevant theaters, with a military offensive or a new diplomatic plan. Right now, though, the government doesn’t have a clue about any such plan, and it doesn’t look as if Washington is that much more knowledgeable.

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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.