blog.Tribulationperiod.com

Iran, Syria, and Hizbullah Warlords,

Let fourth team Hamas take Punishment,

While they set on the sidelines till 4th Quarter,

Then final 3 and ½ year tribulation quarter Begins,

But In The Final Seconds At Armageddon Israelis Wins!

The current Israel and Hamas Conflict will end like all the multiple conflicts and wars have ended since 1948. It will end in a truce after Israel has reached its goal or when Hamas has had enough. I am sure the conflict or war truce scenario episodes will continue until the final battle of Armageddon at the end of Israel’s 3 and ½ year entrapment in the Negev occurs. The vicious attack that initially drives Israel into the Negev, where she remains for 3 and ½ years, will also end in a truce, which will not be broken until the final battle of this Gentile Age, the battle of Armageddon. Armageddon will not end in a truce, but in a complete victory over the forces of the Islamic Antichrist followed by 1000 years of peace. Israel will be the ruling nation on the earth during this period.

The current conflict, (after many protest marches, deaths, air and ground assaults, constant accusations, UN protests and condemnations, crocodile tears by so-called moderate Islamic nations, and even more international hatred shown to Israel), will eventually end in some kind of truce arrangement.

Don’t be surprised if another Israeli & Palestinian conflict arises in the Gaza Strip at some point in time between 2010 and 2015, in order to draw a consolidation of IDF forces to the south to launch another attack on Gaza, which would thus allow Hizbullah freedom to launch a massive rocket attack against Israeli cities in the north. And don’t be surprised when the IDF hastily runs north to invade Lebanon it is ill prepared because of its operation concentration on a southern conflict.

And don’t be surprised if Hizbullah, Lebanese, Syrian, and Iranian forces, plus a vast array of troops from many Arab countries, are poised and ready to drive all Israel into the Negev Wilderness.

December 29, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Excerpt 1 – Six Brief Headlines from Jerusalem Post

5 reported dead in latest IAF strike

Navy reportedly shells Gaza targets; total death toll rises to 322; IDF soldiers amass on border.

Barak: This is ‘all out war’ on Hamas

Defense minister says IDF will expand op to change situation in South: “We’ll go on until goals reached.”

Six wounded in Modi’in stabbing attack

Terrorist shot by MDA paramedic; pro and anti Gaza op protests held at universities in J’lem, Haifa, TA.

Egypt: Hizbullah declared war on us

Gheit says Nasrallah wants to create chaos; thousands attend Gaza support rally in Beirut.

Turkey freezes Israel-Syria mediation

“Israel’s policy to turn to war with Palestinians has greatly disappointed us,” says Turkish FM.

Group signs up Iranians to fight Israel

Influential group of clerics provide three options for ‘assistance:’ military, financial and PR.

Excerpt 2 from Jerusalem Post

Analysis: Don’t forget the Iranian connection

December 29, 2008

David Horovitz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Among the many negative consequences of the Second Lebanon War in summer 2006 was the distraction it provided from Iran’s nuclear program.

So focused was the international community on 34 days of fighting, and so inarticulate was Israel in explaining that it was (indecisively) confronting the Iranian takeover of southern Lebanon, that Teheran slipped gratefully into the global shadows, there to quietly advance its progress toward the bomb.

Today, there is a danger of the same process repeating itself.

Hizbullah is an Iranian creation.

Hamas is not. But it has drawn itself increasingly into Iran’s orbit.

Much of its imported weaponry, and the expertise with which it now produces and refines its own rockets, have been provided by Iran.

Dozens of its commanders have been trained in Iran in recent years, coming home and disseminating that “education” as Hamas has built an army in Gaza.

And, increasingly too, Hamas has come to act in the service of Iran’s aims.

Many signs, even on day two of Operation “Cast Lead,” suggest that Israel is trying to conduct this conflict on the basis of lessons learned from the war against Hizbullah as regards the avoidance of grandiose stated aims and the absence of boasting about the IDF’s capacity to destroy its enemy.

What is not yet clear, by contrast, is whether Israel is truly intending to pursue it s de

ceptively narrow-sounding stated goal of restoring long-term calm to the South.

This aim is actually immensely complex, given that Hamas’s raison d’etre is to attack Israel and that it is thoroughly indifferent

to the deaths of its own people – as exemplified by its ruthless seizure of control in the Gaza Strip 18 months ago.

Many signs, too, suggest that Israel is making an effort, albeit not wholly successful, to improve on the abject public diplomacy of the 2006 war.

What is not yet clear, by contrast, is whether the official spokespeople have internalized the necessity to highlight Iran in their message to the world – Iran, the state champion and major enabler of Hamas’s terror-state in Gaza.

Iran is inspiring, funding, arming and training Hamas.

Iran is avowedly committed to Israel’s destruction, and regards Hamas as a tool toward this goal.

The same Iran, via an emboldened Hizbullah, is now most of the way to achieving proxy control not merely of southern Lebanon, but all of Lebanon.

The same Iran, already armed with missiles that can reach Israel, is extending its missile range to Europe and, it hopes, ultimately to North America.

The same Iran is openly challenging not just the Middle East order but the world order, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad personifying that challenge, thoroughly backed by the entire Teheran regime.

And that same Iran is moving ever closer to the nuclear capability it intends to use in

the service of its goals.

The long-term deterrence of Hamas’s capacity to threaten Israel would represent the long-term deterrence of one aspect of Iran’s rapacious and far-reaching power drive.

That’s an outcome of Operation “Cast Lead” that at least part of the watching world might appreciate – if Israel can manage, first, to explain it clearly, and then to achieve it.

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DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF 70 WEEKS – PART 8

Daniel 9:24-27

December 29, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

THE 40 WEEKS OF DANIEL’S 9:24-29 PROPHECY – Part 8

In all my years of searching for ANY type of writing that identified the “HE” found in Daniel 9:27 as the antichrist, I have only found two, one by Irenaeus and one by Hippolytus, who wrote them on scrolls in about 180 AD. I don’t doubt there may be a few more, but they are so miniscule in number it is like comparing an atom with an elephant – that is the obvious point I have always tried to make. I have yet to find a published book or pamphlet, since the invention of the first printing press up to 1740, which advocated 1 through 4 below state.

As a matter of fact, I only used the references of Irenaeus and Hippolytus because “first of the weekers” are always referring to them.

The first time I ever encountered them in my search, I decided to leave them out because in context, and sticking strictly to what the two stated, they did not prove what those quoting them claimed they stated. So if I can find time, I will go back and look at what I originally found, and show it to you in context in my BLOG tomorrow night, and you can make up your own mind.

For many years I have challenged anyone to produce a book published as a commentary on the Bible prior to 1740 that taught or showed the following:

1. The “HE” in Daniel 9:27 as representing the future antichrist.

2. The “rapture” occurring at, or before, the “first of the week.”

3. The “rapture” occurring in the “middle” of the week.

4. A “last of the week” diagram divided into two 1260 sections.

I’m not saying books showing (1) to (4) don’t exist before 1740. I am saying

I have searched diligently for many years, and have never been able to find such books or publications before 1740. So what will I do if someone ever answers the challenge and does present such a legitimate published document?

I will simply ask this question – Why is this book the only one floating in the midst of a sea of publications that teach otherwise? One of the strongest natural instincts in the human nature we brought out of our mother’s womb is “ACCEPTANCE.” And anyone who is blind to the effect that it has on their way of thinking in a society based on religious, social, and group ACCEPTANCE, is indeed blind to what could be the greatest motivation factor in what they teach, and why they teach it. I was made ACCEPTABLE to God by grace through faith some 64 years ago, and now I persuade men to be well pleasing (ACCEPTABLE) to him rather than to men. To be ACCEPTABLE (well pleasing) to God does not always mesh with being ACCEPTABLE (well pleasing) to man.

Ephesians 1:6 – To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us ACCEPTED in the beloved.

II Corinthians 5:9-11 – Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be ACCEPTED of him. [10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

[11] Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

There are two different inspired words translated as “accepted” in these two Scriptures. The one in II Corinthians means “well pleasing.”

Colossians 3:23-25 – And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; [24] Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. [25] But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

THE PROPHESIED DESOLATIONS OF JERUSALEM!

What Did the Jews Know from Daniel 9:24-27?

Daniel 9:1,2 – In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; [2] In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish seventy years in the DESOLATIONS of JERUSALEM.

They knew that the 70 weeks of years (7 X 70 = 490), during which the desolations of Jerusalem would occur, were to begin as stated in Daniel 9:25.

Daniel 9:25 – Know therefore and understand, that FROM the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem UNTO the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

The 490 years were to begin when the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was issued, which some thought was

the Artaxerxes Longimanus commandment issued in 457 BC.

And they knew it would be 483 years when Messiah the Prince arrived to fulfilled the last 7 years (7 + 62 = 69 weeks of years = 69 X 7 = 483 years).

However, after completing the 484th, 485th, and 486th years, he was cut off (crucified) by the Jews between the 486th and 487th years, that is, in the “midst” of the seven year period, between

the third and fourth years. The word AFTER in 9:26 is a continuous running narration of 9:25 and, as such, is understood to contain the seven weeks without repeating them, hence the Messiah was to be cut off AFTER the 69th year DURING the 70th week of years.

Daniel 9:26 – And AFTER threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

According to the preponderance of the evidence, Jesus was born in 4 BC, and came as the Messiah the Prince to be baptized by John in 27 AD at age 30, which was the age a man could be a priest in the line of Aaron, and it was this event that marked the beginning of the 484th year since the 457 BC commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem had been issued.

Jesus began the last week of Daniel’s 70 weeks when he was baptized. He completed more than three years of it, but less than three and one half years, probably leaving some 1335 days to be completed before the final desolations of Jerusalem were completed.

Daniel 12:12 – Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

The completion of the 1335 days marks “the end of the days” in Daniel’s 490 year prophecy,

and Daniel will stand on this earth in his resurrected glorified body at that time.

Daniel 12:13 – But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

Daniel 9:2 – In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish SEVENTY YEARS in the DESOLATIONS of JERUSALEM.

Daniel 9:27 – And HE shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week HE shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations HE shall make it DESOLATE, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

All three of the “HE’s” are the Messiah the Prince, who was cut off (crucified) between the 486th and 487th year of Daniel’s 490 year prophecy.

FIRST DESOLATION OF JERUSALEM (SPIRITUAL)

The first desolation of Jerusalem occurred when the Messiah the Prince declared it to be spiritually desolate just before he was cut off from Israel by crucifixion.

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.

SECOND DESOLATION OF JERUSALEM (PHYSICAL)

The second desolation of Jerusalem, which followed the rejection of the Messiah the Prince, occurred in 70 AD when Titus destroyed the Temple and the City.

Luke 21:24 – And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

THIRD DESOLATION OF JERUSALEM (PHYSICAL)

The third desolation of Jerusalem occurred in 135 AD when Hadrian finished the desolation of Jerusalem and gave it the name of a Roman city.

FOURTH DESOLATION OF JERUSALEM (PHYSICAL)

The last desolation of Jerusalem will occur when the antichrist overruns it, sits on the temple mount, even “showing himself that he is God.”

Daniel 11:41 – 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.

Daniel 11:45 – And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

II Thessalonians 2:4 – Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Zechariah 14:1,2 – Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst

of thee.

[2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

The attack of antichrist will mark the beginning of the last three and one half unfulfilled years of Daniel’s 490 years, and the 490 years will be completed at the Second Advent of the Messiah the Prince.

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.

I Peter 1:18-21 – Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; [19] But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

RESTORATION OF JERUSALEM (SPIRITUAL & PHYSICAL)

Isaiah 62:1-12 – For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. [2] And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. [3] Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. [4] Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. [5] For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

[6] I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, [7] And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. [8] The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured: [9] But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. [10] Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highways; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. [11] Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. [12] And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

Isaiah 12:1-6 – And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. [2] Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. [3] Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. [4] And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. [5] Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. [6] Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

AIR “CAST LEAD” Offensive A Success!

An Hour by Hour Account of Israeli Attack

Against Hamas IN Gaza December 27, 2008

As Reported by DEBKAfile 6:15 PM to 11:15 PM

And THEN Jerusalem Post ON December 28, 2008!

December 28, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Begin Excerpt 1 from DEBKAfile issued 6:15 PM

Hamas misled, surprised by Israeli air offensive

DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis

December 27, 2008, 6:15 PM (GMT+02:00)

In an air offensive dubbed “Cast Lead,” Saturday,

Dec. 27, some 150 Israeli bombers and helicopters struck 100 targets, destroying dozens of Hamas military compounds across the Gaza Strip in reprisal for the Palestinian long-term missile blitz.

The operation had two elements of surprise:

1. Media reports emanating from official sources in Jerusalem Friday, Dec. 25, conveyed the impression that the major military operation approved by the Israeli cabinet had been called off for the time being, at least until the cabinet reconvened for a reassessment.

2. Egypt misled Hamas, reporting reliable information that Israeli would not strike on Saturday, its Sabbath Day.

Some Hamas commanders and operatives felt safe enough to come out of their hideouts in the tunnels and bunkers under Gaza – estimated at 80 km long – and hold a graduation ceremony on the parade ground at their command headquarters in Gaza City. The Israeli air strike there accounted for the largest number of casualties.

The other 40 air raids destroyed Hamas installations across the enclave. The casualty toll Saturday afternoon was 154 dead and 270 injured, some civilians. According to DEBKAfile’s military sources, the bulk of Hamas strength escaped harm.

They played it safe and stayed underground, also guarding their long-range missile and rocket arsenal.

After the first wave of air attacks, the Israeli military spokesman said the operation was just beginning and would be expanded and deepened as needed. Defense minister Ehud Barak warned Israelis that hard times were ahead.

The expected Hamas reprisals came quickly. Before burying their dead, they sent missiles flying to Ashkelon, then Netivot, where an Israeli man was killed and seven people were injured. Kiryat Gat was hit by a missile and Ashdod’s citizens heard sirens. Both are on the outer perimeter of Hamas long-range missiles and have been unscathed until now.

Israel is holding ready the option of a major ground incursion if Palestinian missile attacks remain at a high level.

A big question hangs over whether Iran will send Hizballah to open a second front from Lebanon in response to the Israeli air operation in Gaza. According to DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources, the Hizballah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, paid a secret visit to Tehran in the third week of November to clarify this very question. A short while later, the al Qods commander, Gen. Qassem Suleimani, arrived in Beirut.

Most probably, they tied up the ends of a possible Hizballah response to the expected Israeli Gaza operation during that visit. Hence the Israeli military spokesman’s warning that the Gaza air operation was just the beginning and could be expanded as needed.

Begin Excerpt 2 from DEBKAfile at 9:04 PM

Israeli killed in Netivot by Gaza missile. Fifty-three fired Saturday night

December 27, 2008, 9:04 PM (GMT+02:00)

Retaliating for Israeli air strikes which destroyed Hamas compounds across Gaza, Saturday, Dec. 27, a Palestinian missile struck a home in Netivot, killing an Israeli man and injuring 7 civilians, three seriously. Another hit Kiryat Gat and Ashkelon sustained a volley of missiles. The Sderot synagogue took a direct hit, injuring two worshippers, one seriously. In Jerusalem, a Palestinian car ran over an Israeli policeman on Mt. Scopus and was arrested after he was slightly injured.

A Qassam missile knocked out the electric current in the Eshkol farm district.

Israelis living within 20 km of the Gaza Strip were ordered to remain in areas protected from missile attack after Hamas and other Palestinian factions threatened revenge. The entire region was placed in a state of emergency and Israeli police forces poured in. The IDF has opened a war emergency room. Magen David Adom’s medical aid service is on its highest alert level.

The Israeli military spokesman said the Gaza operation in the wake of eight consecutive days of missile, mortar and rocket attacks is “just beginning.” It would be expanded and intensified if needed.

Israeli officers calculate that the missiles Hamas sent crashing into Israel in the past week were a fraction of their capabilities which are estimated at 200 a day, on a par with Hizballah’s blitz against Galilee in the 2006 Lebanon war. They include new missiles with a 42-km range which can reach farther afield from their present limits of Ashkelon in the north and Netivot in the East. Five southern Israeli cities, including the outskirts of Beersheba, are now within Palestinian missile range.

Begin Excerpt 3 from DEBKA at 11:01 PM

Israel air strikes continue in S.

Gaza after 225 killed in earlier raids of Hamas sites

DEBKAfile Special Report

December 27, 2008, 11:01 PM (GMT+02:00)

Israeli bombers hit Hamas’ film center in southern Gaza Saturday night, Dec. 27, after massive air raids destroyed Hamas compounds across the enclave leaving 225 killed, 330 injured and thousands of shock victims.

The operation followed a week in which Hamas fired 200 missiles at Israeli civilian targets.

The Israeli Air Force planes struck Hamas security headquarters in Gaza City and compounds, police stations and ports. Several Hamas commanders were killed in the bombardment of a Hamas military passing-out ceremony. Among them was Hamas police chief Tawfiq Jabber.

The Israeli military spokesman said the Gaza operation is “just beginning” and would be expanded and intensified as necessary.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions ordered its “fighters to avenge Israeli attacks.” A Israeli was killed in Netivot in its first reprisal.

Egypt has condemned Israel for its military attack, but held Hamas responsible for refusing to heed warnings and failing to protect the Palestinian people. It has mobilized its rescue and medical services in Sinai, including hospitals for aid to casualties for the Israeli air bombardment of Gaza. Egyptian ambulances s tood by at the Rafah crossing

to transport wounded Hamas operatives.

The Israeli air attack launching some 40 missiles began 11.30 a.m. local time Saturday, eight days after Hamas terminated the informal Gaza ceasefire by showering missiles and mortar rounds on 250,000 Israeli civilians day after day.

Last week, the Israeli cabinet gave the Israeli military the green light for reprisals as Palestinian missile attacks escalated, 13 mortar rounds fired Friday, when Israel allowed 90 trucks of food and medicines to cross into the Gaza Strip.

Since Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005, the Palestinians have fired 5,000 missiles.

Begin Excerpt from DEBKAfile at 11:15 PM

Next: Israel prepares Gaza ground incursion, Hamas gears for suicide terror

DEBKAfile Special Analysis

December 27, 2008, 11:15 PM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile’s military sources assess the next stage of Israel’s Gaza campaign as being a ground incursion of the Gaza Strip, to follow up the air bombardment of Hamas compounds Saturday, Dec. 27. Hamas estimates that in four minutes, dozens of Israeli bombers and helicopters flattened 30 “high profile” sites. At least 350 Palestinians were killed, 90 percent of them Hamas operatives, and between 700 and 800 more were injured. Some of the casualties are still buried under the rubble. The blow sustained by the Palestinian Islamist terrorist group was massive by any military standards and severely upset its military equilibrium. Its retaliation against Israeli towns and villages was therefore slower and smaller in scope that Israel expected.

The fifty plus missiles fired into Israel included a small number of 42-range Grad Katyusha rockets made in Iran. One Israeli was killed and several injured in Netivot and three more hurt when Sderot synagogue too a direct missile hit.

Nonetheless, Hamas will not show a white flag, even after losing hundreds of its military and police personnel, including top commanders, and will make a supreme effort to retaliate from the Gaza Strip as well as mobilizing its substantial Hizballah-backed command center in Lebanon. Hamas operatives will be pressed into service as suicide terrorists. They remain active after Israeli units and Mahmoud Abbas’ special forces trained by US and British instructors conducted systematic crackdowns to crush them for more than a year. The second blow in the form of a formidable Israeli ground incursion without delay is therefore imperative to prevent Hamas getting its second wind.

While Israel’s air attack is counted a success, its war chiefs are taking care not to be trapped by an early achievement into the sort of blunders which led to the Lebanon war’s unsatisfactory conclusion in 2006. That campaign was commanded by a former airman, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, who saw no point in a ground operation after Hizballah’s command center was razed by air – until it was too late.

The first objective of a ground force in the coming hours will be to destroy “Lower Gaza,” the underground city designed by an Iranian general and spread under most of the enclave’s area. This subterranean sanctuary kept the bulk of the Hamas army, 15,000 men, their officers and leaders, out of harm’s way during the Israeli air offensive Saturday. Their resistance must be broken before Hamas can be brought to surrender. Until then they will fight on.

The second Israeli objective must be to sever the Gaza Strip from Egypt by recapturing the Philadelphi border strip.

These missions are formidable indeed and may take weeks of ups and downs, which is why prime minister Ehud Olmert’s goal of restoring normal lives to the people of southern Israel is a lot less simplistic than it sounds. The air operation was indeed just the beginning.

Begin Excerpt 1 from Jerusalem Post on Sunday

Artillery batteries deployed along border with the Gaza Strip

December. 28, 2008

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

The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to over 280 Sunday, Palestinian sources said, as IAF aircraft continued their bombings of Hamas targets.

IAF jets struck 40 smuggling tunnels connecting the Palestinian and Egyptian sides of Rafah, a Gaza Strip border town which has become a main entry point into Gaza of weapons, dynamite and other smuggled military equipment and consumer goods.

According to reports, the bombing took a total of four minutes.

Also Sunday, IDF artillery batteries were deployed along the Gaza Strip border, indicating that the firepower used by the military in Operation Cast Lead so far might yet still be intensified in coming days.

Earlier, two Palestinians were killed in the Jebalya village in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said. They were reportedly killed by missiles fired by Israeli aircraft.

Overall the IAF attacked some 30 targets in Gaza on Sunday, bringing the total number of targets hit to approximately 240, in about 250 sorties over the first 24 hours of the operation.

IAF aircraft struck one of Hamas’s main security compounds in Gaza City Sunday morning, including the Seraya compound [a prison] in downtown Gaza on which IAF jets dropped three bombs, according to witnesses. The blast shattered windows nearby, including some at the office of The Associated Press.

At the Seraya compound, rescue teams started digging through the rubble. Hamas police fired in the air to keep away worried relatives of prisoners.

Aircraft on Sunday targeted a Gaza tanker truck carrying smuggled fuel, touching off a blaze that raged out of control and spread

to about a dozen nearby houses, sending acrid plumes of black smoke towering above southern Gaza, witnesses and firefighters reported.

Palestinians said one of the main medicine warehouse supplying local pharmacies in southern Gaza was attacked in another sortie. “This is going to make us unable to supply any of the local families that depend on us,” warehouse owner Dr. Hussam Abu Hashem told local Hamas radio.

“It’s a war against human beings.”

Local residents said the tanker and the warehouse conta ined supplies that had been smuggled

in from Gaza through underground tunnels with Egypt, suggesting that Israel was widening its offensive to go after businesses that are a source of income for Hamas.

Palestinians said aircraft targeted a mosque near Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, destroying it. Two bodies were retrieved from the rubble. The army said the mosque was a base for terrorist activities.

Palestinian sources reported early Sunday morning that IAF aircraft had targeted the Al Aqsa TV station used by Hamas.

The studio building was destroyed, but the station remained on the air with a mobile unit, the sources said.

Palestinians counted approximately 20 air-strikes in the first hours of Sunday morning.

On Saturday night, IAF aircraft attacked a Kassam launching crew in Gaza, killing three of its members. Palestinians said four others were wounded in the attack.

IDF tanks were making their way from the Golan Heights to the south of Israel in the morning hours and ground troops massed at the Gaza border. Barak told Sky News that the military would deploy ground troops if necessary but avoided providing additional details.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak allowed crossings into Gaza to be opened on Sunday for humanitarian aid to go through, signaling to the world that Israel was fighting a war against Hamas in Gaza but not against the civilian population.

Thirty humanitarian aid trucks were set to pass into the Gaza Strip Sunday. Defense officials said that the number of trucks was decided upon in coordination with international aid groups.

Israel also planned to allow some Palestinians wounded in Saturday’s offensive on Hamas to enter Israel to receive medical treatment.

Officials said the decision to open the crossings and offer assistance to the wounded was part of Israel’s effort to create international legitimacy for its continued operations against Hamas.

As the first day of the operation neared its end the military reported a very low percentage of civilian deaths in a difficult theater which is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The army cited only about 15 deaths out of more than 275 Palestinian casualties were civilian.

Nevertheless, defense officials said Sunday that Israel would not hesitate to target the homes of civilians who protected Hamas terrorists throughout the operation.

“We will go after every Hamas operative, no matter where he is,” they said. “We call on Palestinians not to cooperate with terrorists.”

More than 210 targets were hit by IAF aircraft throughout Saturday. At least 275 Gazans were killed and over 780 were wounded, according to Palestinian sources.

110 Kassam rockets and mortar shells hit Israel on Saturday, the furthest of which landed 27 kilometers from its launcher inside Gaza. Rocket attacks were on a relative lull but the army said it was still expecting Hamas to recuperate from the initial shock and fire up to 200 rockets a day on Israel.

Begin Excerpt 2 from Jerusalem Post on Sunday

Cabinet approves call-up of reservists

December 28, 2008

HERB KEINON and jpost.com staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

The cabinet on Sunday approved the mobilization of thousands of reservists to support Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.

Ministers okayed defense officials’ request to call-up of 4,500 reserve troops, in addition to 2,000 who were mobilized on Saturday.

The additional troops were to be allocated to the home front as well as the reinforcement of ground forces.

During the meeting ministers heard briefings from defense officials, and were told that some 50 percent of Hamas’s underground rocket firing potential was destroyed in the second wave of the attack. This was given as one of the reasons that the Hamas reaction has so far been limited.

It was also mentioned that Israel has not received any requests from Hamas to negotiate, and neither has it been offered mediation by the international community.

Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yuval Diskin told the cabinet that many in Gaza were pleased with the Israeli attack, because of the suffering that Hamas has brought upon them.

The cabinet also approved a continued “special situation” in the Gaza periphery, which Defense Minister Ehud Barak declared on Saturday. A “special situation” allows the Home Front Command to instruct local authorities to act to close down factories, keep people in their homes and so on.

In addition, ministers okayed initiation of Melah (Economy in Time of Emergency) in the Gaza periphery, a plan which would mobilize civilians, along with government and security service infrastructure, to aid in times of crisis.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said at the meeting that while world leaders were pressing for restoration of the calm, they were placing the blame for the current violence on Hamas. This is an important message, she said.

However, she added, “If civilians are hurt and as the operation goes on, international attempts to bring about quiet will become greater.”

But Livni said that Israel would stand firm on its demands, and would not be satisfied with superficial solutions and would accept only a true answer to the problem.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the cabinet that “the perseverance, resolution and patience of Israelis in the home front will determine our ability to attain our goals as we defined them.”

“Israel has opened a military campaign in order to restore quiet to the citizens of the South, who have suffered restive times and disruptions to the normalcy needed by any sane person. The home front has become in recent years a target of attacks which overshadow the lives of hundreds of thousands of people,” Olmert said.

“The government has invested many resources in the home front in the past few years. I take this opportunity to call on members of the government to make the utmost effort to meet the vital needs of citizens of the South, as this situation may last for longer than what might be expected at the moment,” the prime minister added.

Olmert added that he was hoping all government ministries would maintain hot-lines with offices in the South.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. -Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi met before the cabinet convened. Barak said following his briefing with Israel’s top general that “so far we have achieved good operative results. We should know this is not going to be fast nor easy, and we will have to withstand what lies ahead.”

Science, Culture and Sports Minister Ghaleb Majadle, of Barak’s Labor party, notified the government’s secretariat that he would not be sitting in during the weekly cabinet meeting.

He called on the government to halt escalation in the South and on Hamas to cease rocket fire against Israel. According to Majadle, “extending the operation might bring about a collapse of the diplomatic process with the Palestinians and the Arab world.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Shas chairman Eli Yishai reacted to Majadle’s statement, saying it was “a pity that he did not embargo the cabinet and Knesset meetings during the eight years when Palestinians fired rockets and mortar shells. If this is what he thinks, he should not run for the next Knesset.”

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DANIEL’S PROPHECY OF 70 WEEKS – PART 7

Daniel 9:24-27

December 28, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

THE 70 WEEKS OF DANIEL’S 9:24-27 PROPHECY – Part 7

Age of the Prophecy Revisionists

Daniel 9:27 – And HE shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:

and in the midst of the week HE shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations HE shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

The vast majority of biblical expositors today are certain the three “HE’s” in Daniel 9:27 represent the antichrist.

I have searched diligently in many ancient writings to see how many writers commenting on this verse before1740 believed this teaching. Up to this time I have only found two, who wrote in about 180 AD. I am not saying there are no others, but this seems like a mighty small number to be so certain the teaching is correct.

The vast majority of preachers today do not realize the major revisions to prophetic teachings that were brought in during the age of the great revisionists from 1760 to 1920. I do not accept the majority of the revisions that were made during this period.

The first book ever to be put into print via press rather than arduous hand copying was the Gutenberg Bible. The print run began on 23 February 1455 in Mainz, Germany and ended approximately three years later, with an estimated 180 copies of the Bible put into print.

The Gutenberg Bible was not entirely print – it was rubricated and illuminated by hand after it went through the press, but manufacture of the Bible took substantially less time than it would have in a conventional scriptorium.

It is said that Johannes Gutenberg, the Bible’s namesake, chose to print the Bible in Vulgate, or common Latin, because he felt it would be more accessible to the people.

The cost of the Bible, combined with literacy rates, make this claim somewhat dubious.

It is more likely that he chose to print a certain version of the Bible because he knew it would sell well, and th at m

any middle class Germans, his target market, would be more comfortable reading Vulgate than a more sophisticated version of Latin.

The Gutenberg Bible is remarkable for a number of reasons. It is quite clearly documented as the first book in the West to be put into print using a press and movable type, although there is some debate as to whether or not the Gutenberg was the first book ever printed globally, as some Eastern historians argue that the use of block print plates in China and Japan precedes the Gutenberg Bible. Since no strong evidence exists to support the use of movable type in China before the production of the Gutenberg Bible, it is generally accepted to be the first book ever printed.

The printing press technology shattered the content monopoly. In 45 years (1455-1500), the number of books in Europe swelled from a few thousand to more than 9 million. And, as McLuhan noted, it shifted the emphasis from the oral mode of content distribution (i.e., “communication”) to the visual mode.

I have never been able to find a published book, during the 300 year period from 1455 to 1755, which presented a diagram dividing the tribulation period into two sections, each one 3 and ½ years in length, with the first resurrection occurring at the beginning of the first three and ½ year period.

I challenge anyone reading this to produce a pre-1740 published book on prophecy, based on Biblical interpretation, that shows a diagram dividing the tribulation period into two sections, each one 3 and ½ years in length, with the first resurrection occurring at the beginning of the first 3 and ½ year period.

I would also like for someone to show me a published book before 1740, based on Bible interpretation, showing a diagram dividing the tribulation period into sections, each one 1260 days in length, with the first resurrection occurring at the beginning of the second period of 1260 days.

For that matter, I would also like to see a published book before 1740, based on Biblical interpretation, teaching that the rapture would occur at the middle or the beginning of the tribulation period.

It is possible that a pre-1740 published book does exist somewhere that shows the tribulation period divided into two sections, each one 3 and ½ years in length, but I have looked long and hard for it in many ancient, musty, religious book archives in the U.S. and abroad, and I have yet to find it.

So I am not saying such a book doesn’t exist, but the very fact I have tried diligently to find one with no results, does at least seem to infer the validity of the supposed rock foundation of the present day teachings could well be based on sinking sand.

Prophetic teachers of this generation have lived with the two division diagrams so long they think they came over on the Mayflower.

But basically these diagrams were a product of the first of the week rapture position, which is such an ingrained part of prophecy teaching today. The so-called “first of the week” position, as well as what is known as the “middle of the week” position, cannot be found in existence in any published book about the Bible before 1740. In fact, it is the term “week,” appropriated by the revisionists, that is largely responsible for the mass exodus from orthodox prophetic teaching, which occurred in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The bulk of all prophetic teaching of today is based, directly or indirectly, on the revisionist teaching on Daniel 9:27, which, to a large extent, was accelerated with the initial appearance of the “first of the week” position in the early 19th century. If the teaching on Daniel 9:27 by the revisionists is incorrect, then much of today’s prophetic teaching is in error. I believe this is the case, and I have been labeled as a revisionist myself because of it. I am certain that the great Bible expositor B.H. Carrol, who continued to believe the pre-1760 teachings until his death, was correct in what he taught concerning Daniel’s 70th week.

For you see, before 1827, the majority of orthodox prophetic teachers were convinced that the “he” in Daniel 9:27 was Jesus Christ, not the antichrist – THEY WERE RIGHT. We are not waiting for a “week of seven years” to be fulfilled! Why not? – Because Jesus has already fulfilled most of the first 3 and ½ years. We are facing a tribulation period of the last 3 and ½ years, preceded by a much briefer period of peace than many are expecting.

I did find references to two ancient scroll writings of historical believers who did have a belief the “he’s” in Daniel’s pictured antichrist – Irenaeus and Hippolytus in about 180 AD.

Daniel 9:27 – And HE shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week HE shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations HE shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

According to the vast majority of popular Protestant prophecy teachers today, the first half of Daniel’s last “week” (the seventieth) will be 1260 days of peace following a peace treaty between Israel and the antichrist.

This teaching reared its head at some point in time between 1740 and 1830 when, for the first time since 180 AD, preachers began to teach that the three “HE’s” in Daniel 9:27 represented the end time antichrist. Prior to that time the vast majority of preachers taught the three “HE’s” represented Jesus Christ, and a minority believed it had already been fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes, but I have yet to find anyone from 180 to 1740 AD who said it was the end time antichrist, which is what most preachers are sure the “HE’s” represent today. In 168 BC Antiochus Epiphanes occupied the city of Jerusalem, entered the Holy of Holies, desecrated the sanctuary by offering unclean animals upon the altar of burnt-offerings, polluted the whole building by sprinkling it with water in which flesh had been boiled, dedicated the Temple itself to Jupiter Olympus, erected a statue of deity to Jupiter, and plundered the temple treasures. But Messiah of verse 26 was not cut off (crucified) before 168 BC, nor did Antiochus ever confirm a covenant with Israel. The three HE’s of Daniel do not represent Antiochus or the future antichrist – they represent Jesus.

This period of 1260 days of peace is adamantly taught as fact by many today.

Please look at the following Scriptures and see if they present three and one-half prophetic years of peace. In every case they represent a 1260 day period that will be fulfilled during the last 1260 days of antichrist prior to the Second Advent of Christ.

Revelation 11:2,3 – But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot FORTY AND TWO MONTHS. [3] And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy A THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND THREESCORE, clothed in sackcloth.

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..

Revelation 12:14 – And to the wom an were given two wings of

a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for A TIME, AND TIMES, AND HALF A TIME, from the face of the serpent.

Revelation 13:5 – And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue FORTY AND TWO MONTHS..

Daniel 7:25 – And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until A TIME AND TIMES AND THE DIVIDING OF TIME.

Every time the capitalized phrases in these verses are used, they always refer to the last 1260 days, never to the first 1260 days. I contend this is because Christ fulfilled the first half of the week before he was cut-off (crucified). We will not have the advantage of three and on-half years of peace to reveal the antichrist to us.

One of the most interesting facets found in interpreting Daniel 9:27 is that it is not directly quoted by specific content in the New Testament. And, equally interesting, is the fact that any inferred reference taken from it is by indirect inference to a period of time that happens to match the one-half of one of Daniel’s weeks of 2520 days, or three and one-half years of 360 days in length. Even more interesting, in all cases it refers strictly to the last half of the 2520 day period by expressions like “42 months,” “1260 days,” and “time, times, and half a time.” I do not believe the first half of the seven year period is specifically detailed for those of us living in the last days because it has already been fulfilled by the Messiah the Prince, and only the later portion has yet to come to pass before Armageddon.

I implore you to take a look at what was taught by most orthodox prophetic teachers before 1827 about Daniel’s 70th Week

I am not concerned about the position believers hold on the rapture unless it is taught to be as firm a doctrine as salvation by grace, but the recent massive publications of books that have come out of the “Left Behind” series is staggering, and some have come to believe it is one of the great doctrines of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I am only anxious that the massive numbers of believers on this planet realize the very distinct possibility that they may have to go through part of the tribulation period, which I believe is in the not too distant future. Many believers have never even heard any other position than the first of the week and, if they do hear there is, the one telling them usually tells them it is most certainly incorrect. The every day believer-on-the-street has no idea of what was believed before 1740, only what began to be taught after that, principally since 1827. I am not looking for a group of people to believe what I teach about the rapture and Daniel’s 70 weeks of year, I am simply trying to advise believers to be aware what many routinely teach today as fact was not taught before 1740.

I am certainly not looking for followers – for McElmurryites – I am looking for “considerers.”

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FOLLOW UP TO PREVIOUS BLOG

THE WAITING IS OFFICIALLY OVER

HAMAS JUST GOT A GREAT BIG SWAT!

December 27, 2008

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Begin Excerpt from Jerusalem Post

230 killed as Israel rains fire on Hamas in the Gaza Strip

December 27, 2008

Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

In the heaviest military strike against the Gaza Strip since the 1967 Six Day War, the Israel Air Force bombed over 170 targets on Saturday, killing more than 230 Palestinians, as Israel launched “Operation Cast Lead,” aimed at putting a stop to Hamas rocket attacks against the South.

In two waves, over 100 fighter jets and attack helicopters dropped dozens of smart bombs and hundreds of tons of explosives on Hamas training camps, headquarters, weapons storehouses, underground missile silos and command-and-control centers scattered throughout the Gaza Strip.

In response, 80 Kassam rockets, Grad-model Katyushas and mortar shells pounded southern Israel throughout the day. One rocket scored a direct hit on an apartment building in Netivot, killing 58-year-old Beber Vaknin and wounding several others.

As ground forces amassed outside Gaza ahead of a possible ground operation, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that Saturday’s aerial bombardment was just the opening salvo of a long operation that defense officials told The Jerusalem Post would likely last several weeks.

“There is a time for a cease-fire and a time to fight,” Barak said. “Now is the time to fight.”

Defiant Hamas leaders threatened revenge. Hamas “will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood,” vowed spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal called on West Bank residents to rise up against Israel in a renewed intifada.

Soldiers from the Paratroop and Golani Brigades were deployed along the Gaza border ahead of the possible ground offensive.

Defense officials said that anyone and anything identified with Hamas was a potential target.

At least two senior Hamas commanders were killed in the air strikes. One was identified as Maj.-Gen. Tawfiq Jabar, commander of the Gaza Strip police, who was killed at the Gaza Police Academy during a graduation ceremony; 70-80 Hamas operatives were reported killed in that attack.

Officials said that Israel did not plan on conquering the Gaza Strip or toppling the Hamas regime, but would likely continue the air strikes together with limited ground assaults against Hamas infrastructure and Kassam launch sites.

“We will not stop until Hamas halts its rocket attacks and terrorist activity,” one senior defense official said.

The operation was given three goals – to stop Hamas’s rocket attacks against Israel; to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza; and to stop Hamas’s terrorist activity against Israel.

“Our purpose is to hit Hamas in such a way that will force it to halt any firing and other hostile activities against Israeli citizens and against the IDF,” Barak said. “We will do everything it takes to defend our citizens and bring about a significantly improved situation along our border.”

The IDF opened the underground military command-and-control center located at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi manned the post together with several top generals throughout the day.

OC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan was inside the IAF underground command-and-control center nearby.

“The goal of the operation was to shock, awe and deceive the Palestinians,” a senior IDF officer said Saturday, referring to Barak’s decision to open the crossings on Friday – done to deceive Hamas into believing that Israel was delaying a military response to the rocket attacks.

Reports that the cabinet planned to convene on Sunday to discuss the situation in Gaza

were also aimed at deceiving Hamas.

The air strikes caused widespread panic and confusion in Gaza. Black clouds of smoke rose above the Strip, ruled by Hamas since June 2007.

The IDF said it had avoided striking at targets next to schools and inside densely-populated apartment buildings, but urged Gazans to stay away from Hamas infrastructure.

The IDF Central Command also went on high alert out of concern that Hamas terrorists would try to infiltrate Israeli cities to perpetrate suicide bombings.

Military sources said there was also worry that Hamas would try to kidnap soldiers in the West Bank and that Hizbullah might attack along the northern border.

Olmert cautioned Israel’s enemies against trying to take advantage of the fact that Israel was busy in Gaza.

In a televised speech, Mashaal warned Israel that it would not achieve by fighting what it had been unable to achieve through diplomacy.

While the Damascus-based Hamas leader maintained that his organization was interested in renewing the cease-fire with Israel, he said this would only be possible if Israel and opened all crossings in and out of the Strip.

Mashaal defended his group’s actions and the continued rocket attacks on Israel that led to the IAF offensive, saying Israel – and not Hamas – was responsible for the renewed bloodshed.

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