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Forecast of Trouble on the Temple Mount

December 16, 2009

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

MY COMMENTS WILL FOLLOW THE JERUSALEM POST EXCERPT

Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM POST

Activists planning Temple Mount ascent

December 16, 2009

Abe Selig , THE JERUSALEM POST

A group of activists dedicated to bringing Jews to the Temple Mount told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that they were hoping to see hundreds of participants take part in a planned “mass pilgrimage” to the mount scheduled for Thursday morning in honor of Hanukka, which celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple after it was recovered from Hellenist Greeks more than 2,000 years ago.

The pilgrimage, which will include guided tours of the area throughout the morning, will also be a litmus test for the shaky calm that has prevailed in Jerusalem’s Old City since October, when rumors of a “Jewish takeover” of the mount sparked fierce clashes between Arab rioters and security forces in and around the sensitive holy site and in various neighborhoods of east Jerusalem.

The rumors were fueled in part by calls at the time, from a number of Knesset members and prominent national-religious rabbis, that Jews ascend to the Temple Mount with increased vigor.

Those calls were p ortrayed, in turn, by Palestinian clerics as nefarious plans to invade the site

or build a synagogue there.

The mount, which was the location of both the First and Second Jewish Temples from 960 BCE until 70 AD, is also home to the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aksa Mosque, which is considered the third-holiest shrine in Islam.

Nonetheless, a representative of the Organization for the Renewal of the Temple (ORT) – which is organizing Thursday’s event – told the Post on Tuesday there had been no indication the planned pilgrimage would cause renewed disturbances, even though tensions around the site are always high, and Tuesday was no exception.

Members of the group who had gone up to the mount on Tuesday were reportedly accosted by a group of Arabs as they exited the site and headed into the Old City’s Muslim Quarter.

Yosef Rabin, an ORT member, told the Post that the scuffle broke out after a number of Arabs standing nearby became enraged when his colleagues started to sing Hanukka songs and dance as they departed.

“And that was completely legal,” Rabin said. “We were no longer on the mount itself, and the police officers who were with us said it was okay to begin singing.”

Police were quick to break up the fighting, Rabin added, but detained two of the group’s members. A police spokesman contacted on Tuesday evening was unable to immediately verify Rabin’s account.

Nevertheless, Rabin said, the trip had been calm and quiet up until the fighting broke out, and he added that his group was pursuing its goal of promoting awareness of the mount “through legal means only.”

“We do everything legally and in conjunction with the police,” Rabin said. “And as long as we do, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

Rabin also said that the violence seen in October had been mostly instigated by the leader of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, Sheikh Raed Salah, who has been markedly less vocal since the riots and his subsequent arrest and temporary banishment from the Old City.

“Even the Wakf (the Islamic authority that holds custodianship over the mount) was against Salah’s provocations,” Rabin said. “They didn’t say it out loud, but it was reported that the Wakf was privately pleased with his arrest. They don’t want problems like that, but there are instigators from other parts of the country who do.”

Still, Rabin said he had personally spoken with police about Thursday’s pilgrimage and that they had told him there was no reason to believe problems would occur.

“Our focus is on bringing people to the Temple Mount, nothing else,” Rabin said. “And we’ve been making hundreds of phone calls, using lists we have, and sending out e-mails and Facebook messages to try and get as many people as possible to come.”

“Little by little, we’re going to take back the mount,” he continued. “And it will be done without violence or force.”

In a related development, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Monday issued a restraining order against Hatem Abdel Kader, a senior Fatah official and advisor to PA president Mahmoud Abbas for Jerusalem affairs, which prohibits him from entering the Temple Mount for six months.

Kader was released on bail after being arrested over the weekend for violating a previous restraining order, when he entered the Temple Mount to attend prayers there.

The senior Fatah official was banned from the mount for three weeks in October, after being arrested on suspicion of incitement during the riots that were taking place at the time.

THE FOLLOWING IS A BLOG I ISSUED THREE YEARS AGO IN RESPONSE TO AN ARUTZ SHEVA EXCERPT

Will the Temple be rebuilt Before Messiah Returns?

December 10, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Before I began to study the languages of the Bible and the history of Israel’s three Temples some 36 years ago, I taught a Temple would be built on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem before the Second Advent of Messiah. However, I changed my mind shortly after graduating from Seminary and University in the mid-seventies.

A lot of believers are anxiously waiting for the temple to be built before the rapture, but I am confident it will not be built until the beginning of Messiah’s reign. Any attempt to place a Jewish religious edifice of any kind is doomed to failure prior to the return of Christ. My reasons for these statements may in found in Archive Prophecy Update Number 79.

BEGIN PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 79

August 3, 2002

WILL THE TEMPLE BE REBUILT IN JERUSALEM?

I long ago lost count of the number of men and women who have reminded me that the temple MUST be rebuilt before Jesus returns. A majority of believers are certain that it must be rebuilt because antichrist must set in it “showing himself that he is God.”

As a young man I believed that it would be rebuilt before Jesus returned.

But as I studied the Greek language in Seminary, I began to say it would “probably” be rebuilt. I now do not believe it will be rebuilt until the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

Why?

Much of what follows is quoted primarily from the “New Testament Greek-English Dictionary of the Complete Bible Library,” Volumes 13 and 14.

In the New Testament the word “hieron,” translated as “temple,” is found ONLY in the Gospels, in Acts, and in I Corinthians 9:13, where Paul’s ONLY use of the word appears as “temple.”

I Corinthians 9:13 – Jerusalem’s Literal Stone Temple

Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple (hieron)? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar

?

“Hieron” refers to the entire temple including its precincts and the temple hill or, in a limited sense, any portion of the temple, such as the court of the women (Luke 2:37) where Jesus stood before the altar after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11:11), the court of the Gentiles out of which Jesus drove the money changers (John 2:15), or the temple proper where the veil separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies (Matthew 27:52). “Hieron” is ONLY used in a literal sense in the entire New Testament. This is in very sharp contrast to its closely related term “naos,” which is used both literally and figuratively in the New Testament.

It is used figuratively at times to refer to the human body or a local church body.

I Corinthians 6:19 – The Human Body – Naos

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not

your own?

I Corinthians 3:16,17 – The Local Church Body – Naos

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? [17] If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

(All the “ye’s” in this verse are plural, and the “in” of verse 16 may be translated with equal validity as being “among” you, because “you” is plural.)

Now, let’s take a look at the word “naos,” translated as “temple” in the New Testament. “Naos” denotes the “dwelling place of a god.” Consequently, the “naos” was the inner “sanctuary” of a temple where the image of the God was placed, or where he dwelled. It is frequently translated as “temple,” but the association with the word “sanctuary” should not be overlooked.

The following verses contain ALL the uses of the word translated “temple” in the writings of the Apostle Paul.

TEMPLE – HIERON – I CORINTHIANS 9:13

Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?

(This is absolutely referring literally to the great temple of stone in the city of Jerusalem)

TEMPLE – NAOS – I CORINTHIANS 6:19

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

(This is absolutely referring to the body of someone who has experienced the new birth as figuratively being a temple)

TEMPLE – NAOS – I CORINTHIANS 3:16,17

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? [17] If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

TEMPLE – NAOS – II CORINTHIANS 6:16

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(All the “ye’s” and the “them” and “they” are plural, and the two “in’s” may be translated as “among”)

TEMPLE – NAOS – EPHESIANS 2:21,22

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: [22] In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

(The “ye” in verse 22 is plural)

It is perfectly obvious in the verses in the two books of Corinthians and Ephesians that Paul was not referring to the literal temple in Jerusalem, and it is also equally obvious he knew the distinction between “hieron” and “naos.” That is why his ONLY other use of the word “naos,” occurring in I Thessalonians 2:4, is so puzzling.

I am convinced that if he meant the literal stone temple in Jerusalem, then he would have used the word “hieron.”

TEMPLE – NAOS – 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.

The precise meaning of “naos” in this verse is uncertain. I believe Paul pictures the antichrist s itting on the temple mount

in a sinful body of flesh, w

ith his inner soul and spirit claiming he is God to prove it to himself, and to show the world he is God.

This would parallel his use of the word “naos” in I Corinthians 6:19. In any case, I Thessalonians 2:4 falls far short of proving that the temple must be rebuilt before the return of Jesus.

The companion Old Testament Scripture often used to link with I Thessalonians 2:2 to prove the temple must be rebuilt is Daniel 11:45.

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.

However, the word translated “palace” is “appeden.” It is never translated as “temple” in the entire Bible. So it means, in the context of this verse, that antichrist returns to Jerusalem just before the battle of Armageddon, and puts up a command post palace pavilion on the temple mount, from which he plans to sit and direct the final battle. The tents (tabernacles – ohel) are the tents of all the troops from Europe, Eurasia, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa which have poured into Israel in answer to his call, and he will direct their final attack against Israel in the Negev from his “appeden” on the temple mount. I have heard about the rebuilding of this temple for some 54 years. For better or for worst, I do not believe the temple will be rebuilt until Jesus returns.

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To Strike or Not to Strike, THAT IS the Question,

Only God KNOWS whether Israel will hit Nuke Sites,

Only God knows when the final Middle East War Begins,

But the Middle East is definitely headed for the final Conflict,

Because all the Bible indicated elements are sliding into Position.

I believe the guesstimate of the last war starting twixt 2010 & 2015,

That I issued several years ago, appears each year to be a good Choice!

December 16, 2009

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

The only thing that is holding Netanyahu back from knocking out the Iranian nuke sites is the United States.

A quoted paragraph from the excerpt which follows does make it quite plain that the U.S. does not want Israel to strike. If

Netanyahu was to notify the U.S. in advance, you may rest assure the Obama Administration would find a way to quickly ‘leak’ the information to

the entire world to prevent Israel from making the attack. If Israel does attack, I doubt they will tell us in advance.

QUOTED PARAGRAPH FROM EXCERPT WHICH FOLLOWS IT:

“[At roughly the same time, Leon Panetta, the head of the CIA, went on a covert visit to Israel to seek assurances that the new Government would not surprise the Obama Administration with a sudden unilateral attack.]”

Begin Excerpt from TIMESONLINE via World News

Binyamin Netanyahu must decide whether to strike Iran’ s nuclear facilitie

s

December 14, 2009

The moment is fast approaching when Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, may have to make the most difficult decision of his career — whether to launch a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities and risk triggering a conflagration that could spread across the Middle East.

Israeli experts believe the point of no return may be only six months away when Iran’s nuclear programme will have — if it has not already — metastasised into a multitude of smaller, difficult-to-trace facilities in deserts and mountains, while its main reactor at Bushehr will have come online and bombing it would send a radioactive cloud over the Gulf nations.

Mr Netanyahu has consistently called Iran the most serious threat Israel faces. President Ahmadinejad of Iran has called for Israel to be obliterated and his Revolutionary Guards supply training, money and weapons to both Hezbollah in Lebanon, on Israel’s northern border, and to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, whose missiles are believed to be capable of reaching Tel Aviv.

In the run-up to his election this year, Mr Netanyahu promised that “under my Government, Iran will not be allowed to go nuclear”. Yet Mr Ahmadinejad has promised to produce 20 per cent enriched uranium: a big step towards weapons-grade fuel.

With the Iranian threat at the front of his strategic thinking, Mr Netanyahu has surrounded himself with old comrades from Israel’s most prestigious military unit, the Sayeret Matkal, or General Staff Reconnaissance.

Mr Netanyahu served in the elite unit in the 1970s under Ehud Barak, who went on to become Israel’s most decorated soldier and later Prime Minister in his own right.

When Mr Netanyahu came to power, he made great efforts to recruit his former commander as Defence Minister. Mr Barak serves with another former leader of the unit, the Deputy Prime Minister, Moshe “Bogie” Yaalon. The Israeli Prime Minister has hard-wired his core Cabinet with so much military experience for a good reason. Striking Iran’s nuclear facilities would be a huge military and political gamble.

Although Russia has delayed supplying Iran with S300 anti-aircraft missiles, which could weaken any Israeli attack, the air force would have to mount one of its largest long-range attacks to have a chance of disabling Iran’ s nuclear in

stallations.

Earlier this year a report by Anthony Cordesman of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, warned that “a military strike by Israel against Iranian nuclear facilities is possible . . . (but) would be complex and high-risk and would lack any assurances that the overall mission will have a high success rate”.

At roughly the same time, Leon Panetta, the head of the CIA, went on a covert visit to Israel to seek assurances that the new Government would not surprise the Obama Administration with a sudden unilateral attack.

In 2007, in what is often seen as a trial run for an attack on Iran, an Israeli squadron flew undetected through Turkish airspace and over Syria’s unprotected border to destroy what was thought to be a nuclear facility under construction with Iranian and North Korean support.

In June 2008, the air force staged exercises over the Mediterranean, with dozens of fighters, bombers and refuelling tankers flying roughly the same distance as between Israel and Iran.

Earlier this year, Israeli jets again carried out a long-range bombing mission, hitting trucks in Sudan that were believed to be bringing Iranian weapons to Hamas via Egypt.

In the immediate term, the threat of a strike has receded.

Israel is satisfied that Iran’s hostile stance towards the international community has increased the chances of serious, crippling sanctions. Officials noted that for the first time Russia seemed to be serious about isolating Tehran.

But that international front could easily crack, and then Mr Netanyahu would be faced with the decision on whether to order his bombers into action. Iran has already threatened to bomb Israel’s cities with its long-range missiles should its nuclear facilities come under attack.

It could also, in stages, order Hezbollah to launch rockets across the northern border.

The attack could come in conjunction with a Hamas assault from the Gaza Strip.

Alternatively both sides may choose to do nothing. Some analysts believe that Israel might tolerate Iran as a “threshold nuclear state”, capable of building a bomb but not testing it.

Iran could opt for the path chosen by Syria in 2007, if Israel strikes at isolated facilities miles from an urban areas, where the only casualties would be technicians and guards. After the strike against Syria, neither side admitted what had happened, thereby avoiding a war and saving face.

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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:

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Juxtaposition of U.S. Troops is a Major Factor in Middle East War

I have advocated this in all our Blogs since U.S. invaded Iraq

In 2007 I chose 2010 as the earliest time War might Occur

And stated the likely time frame was twixt 2010 to 2015

I’ve also said repeatedly 2012 to 2015 was most Likely

I continue to believe that to be the case for a Reason!

December 15, 2009

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

In 2007 the contingency plan was to begin the phasing out of our troops as early as 2009.

Since that time it has been like a tennis ball going around in a tornado, ever changing its position.

So, if my primary position was a time slot was a Middle East war beginning between 2010, why don’t I just chop off the 2010 to 2012 and made it 2012 to 2015. Because anyone who thinks he can tell what is going to happen to the U.S. economy is our of their mind, and when our troops begin to come home directly depends on how our economy behaves from here on out.

It takes many months to get men and equipment from the U.S. to Afghan istan,

just as it did to get them to Saudi Arabia in two Iraqi operations. The fact that we now have them in place, on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, is the greatest deterrent to the final war of this age occurring there, as long as they are in place. We may, or may not, maintain a strong enough economy to keep them in the Middle East. If we do, the war is most likely to occur between 2012 and 2015, but if our economy goes south, it could well being between 2010 and 1012. We may have to withdraw them for economic reasons much earlier than Obama plans. So, since I am tired of having repeated 2010 to 2015 for hundreds of blogs, and I realize you are probably time of hearing it, and also because soon 2010 will rear its head, Lord willing, from henceforth I will simply say: “IT IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN BEFORE 2015,” and simply refer back to the blog.

Some of you may not like what I am about to say, but after two wars and paying my dues in Vietnam: I WISH THEY WOULD BRING ALL OUR TROOPS HOME AND LET THE FINAL MIDDLE EAST WAR BEGIN – I’M OLD, TIRED, AND WORN OUT.

I AM READY TO GO TO MY “LONG HOME” AND LOOK UPON PHYSICAL DEATH AS AN “EARLY RAPTURE.” GOD CAN CHANGE DUST JUST AS EASILY AS HE CAN ‘LIVING’ FLESH.

Ecclesiastes 12:5-7 – Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: [6] Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or

the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. [7] Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

When I first entered the Ministry many years ago I really did not understand what Paul wrote in Philippians 1:21-24, but after the last 35 years at Dardanelle MBC I am ‘beginning’ to understand it.

Philippians 1:21-24 – For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

[22] But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. [23] For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: [24] Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

Begin Excerpt from THE UK INDEPENDENT via World News

Kim Sengupta: Afghanistan is the only game in town

December 15, 2009

In a recent speech titled ” Beyond Afghanistan” the head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, vociferously argued that defence strategy should not become too Afghancentric. Britain, said the First Sea Lord, would face other challenges and this would need the nation keeping all its options open on weaponry.

The “reprioritizing” announced by Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth today showed however, that, in reality, Afghanistan is the only game in town. The measures announced were almost entirely focused on the needs of that particular campaign with the implicit acceptance that future conflicts are likely to be similar counter-insurgency operations.

In broad terms the government is addressing the pressing needs of the Afghan war, in particular the relentless toll from roadside bombs and mines which have been responsible for 85 per cent of recent British and allied casualties. Twenty-two extra Chinook helicopters would allow much more movement by air rather than the increasingly vulnerable road convoys.
Around £ 160 million will also be spent on counter-IED (improvised explosive devices) equipment and training is designed towards the same end.

None of this comes free and with no extra funding available others would have to bear the £ 900 million cost. In the immediate period it is not Admiral Stanhope’s Navy but the strike wing of

the RAF who will be the most to suffer with the Harrier jets phases out of service earlier than the planned date of 2018, the Tornado fighter jet force based at RAF Lossiemouth, in Moray, and RAF Marham in Norfolk expected also expected to lose one squadron and cutbacks due at RAF Kinloss. There will also be job losses due to these and other measures affecting both civilian and military staff.

However, although the Navy has not been too adversely affected in this particular round of restructuring the writing appears to be on the wall th at the senior service, too, will have to make sacrifices

at the next round with the two new aircraft carriers looking particularly vulnerable.

The Army, which has been doing the vast bulk of the fighting in Afghanistan had felt short changed in the defence budget. However, most of the funding from the Urgent Operational Requirements (UORs) have been spent on equipment such as armoured vehicles and the forthcoming Strategic Defence Review is likely to see more money heading in their direction.

Today’s announcement does not provide immediate answer to the problems of Afghanistan. The extra helicopters are not due to be ready until 2012/13, at a time, according to ministers, when British troops should be in a position to start withdrawing from the conflict with Afghan security forces taking over.

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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:

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An Impossible Assignment for an Analyst!

Predicting what an Islamic President would Do

Who sees a halo of light surrounding him at the UN

And has conversations with the Mahdi (Islamic Messiah)

December 15, 2009

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

ARCHIVE SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 165B

April 1, 2004

The Coming Messiah of Islamic Tradition!

Our computer was down for some time recently, and I have been flooded with requests since we got our new system functioning. I hope to eventually get around to answering all of them, but there were a couple I thought I would answer in the form of Prophecy Updates, since they pertain to the Middle East scenario. One involved a request for information about a person that I have long believed would arise out of Islam. During my 20 plus years in military service, from time to time I went to school with the followers of Islam, and trained one in meteorological severe weather prediction at the Federal Office building in Kansas City, Missouri.

The request involved a traditional teaching involving the arrival of an Islamic Imam Mahdi (al-Imam al-Mahdi) at the end of this last age before the resurrection.

The word Imam means “to walk before,” and carries the title of Caliph, and the word “Mahdi” means “a leader, and a spiritual guide and director.” The Muslims expect this leader and prophet to appear on the earth before the world ends, and he is

expected to be the Moslem Messiah.

The belief is based on thousands of traditions that claim to go all the way back to the Koran, but I have never been able to find a legitimate reference in the Koran without twisting its context. Of course, I do not believe Islamic tradition or the Koran, but what I believe is beside the point. The point is that most Muslims do believe it. So when a man does arise among them they can label as an Imam Mahdi, then I believe he will be the antichrist of which the Bible teaches, which I do believe, and it will make it much easier for some 1.4 million Muslims, most of which live in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, to follow him in a great and united Jihad against Israel.

Even though it cannot be found in the Koran, there are a large number of learned Muslims who claim the belief in Mahdi was widespread during Muhammad’s lifetime among them. Many say on more than one occasion he had announced the future coming of the Mahdi, and that at times he would inform the people about Mahdi’s wonderful government, plus the signs preceding his rise among the people.

Ancient Islamic documents do quote the Prophet as saying: “The world will not come to an end until a man from my family line, who will be called al-Mahdi, emerges to rule my community.” A couple of other quotes from Islamic documents are also valuable in understand Muslim beliefs on this subject; one makes a statement that is quoted as having been uttered by the Prophet three times: “Listen to the good news about the Mahdi! He will rise at the time when the people will be faced with severe conflict and the earth will be hit by a violent quake. He will fill the earth with justice and equality as it is filled with injustice and tyranny. He will fill the hearts of his followers with devotion and will spread justice everywhere (Mihal, Vol. 1, p .256: Firaq, p. 62).” And, in Milal, Vol. 1, pp. 273, 278 and Firaq, pp. 67, 80, 83, the Prophet has declared: “The day of Resurrection will not take place until the True Qa’im rises. This will happen when God permits him to do so.

Anyone who follows him will be saved, and anyone who opposes him will perish. O servants of God, keep God in your mind and go towards him even if it happens to be on the ice, for indeed he is the Caliph of God, the Exalted and Glorified, and my successor.”

Shiites revere 12 Imams historically, the last of whom is believed to be currently in hiding, but will make himself known to Islam as the al-Mahdi in the last days of this age. There is also a traditional teaching that he will rise from the dead before the end of time.

The subject of Imams is what led to the great split in the Islamic ranks between the Sunni, the largest party, and the Shiite, the second largest party. But the Kurds and other splinter groups also have their religious Imams, which is one of the major reasons there can never be a democracy in Iraq, because of the bitter enmity between the Islamic divisions. However, if a strong leader, with great religious charisma, should arise out of hiding to unite them all in the belief he was the Imam Mahdi of Islamic tradition with the power of Allah, the fanaticism of the Muslims would create much more than just an occasional suicide bomber – It would generate a massive flood of millions charging across the northern border of Israel unafraid of death.

Of course, I do not believe the Koran or the traditional teachings of Islam. I decided long ago, from Micah 5:1-9, that the antichrist would be of Assyrian lineage, and would come out of the area that included Lebanon, extreme southern Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq, or the extreme tip of northwestern Iran (See Prophecy Updates 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, and 69 in our Prophecy Archives). And I am confident he will be of the Islamic faith (See Prophecy Updates 160B and 161C in our Prophecy Archives). If you really want your eyes opened to what was taught prophetically before 1740, then check out the following Prophecy Updates in our archives: 73D, 74A, 78, 82A, 114A, 117B, 56, 57, 58, 123B and 123D.

It may be you will discover that what is going on now in the Middle East fits what pre-1740 prophetic teachings indicated would

be happening, in the last days, more accurately than the twentieth century popular teachings of end time events. As I stated earlier, I do not believe the Koran or Islamic traditional teaching, but it is ironic that they are primed to receive the one we call the antichrist from their own writings, which identify him as their Messiah. Before too much longer I expect a man from within the area I previously identified, probably Syria, to be manifested as someone behind which all Muslims can unite to meet their goal of driving Israel out of the land from Dan to Beersheba, and with a view toward overcoming all the infidels in the name of Allah.

Excerpt from Alarabiya.net via MEMRI

Middle East Media Review Institute (MEMRI)

Ahmadinejad Slammed for Mahdi Comments;

Advisor Spreads Rumors Ahmadinejad Speaks to Savior

December 14, 2009

Political and religious Iranian figures slammed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his repeated comments about the Mahdi (Muslim messiah) and warned him about the consequences of rumors that he converses with the holy imam.

The Iranian news site Jahan News reported that Habibollah Askar-Oladi, secretary-general of Iran’s Islamic Coalition Party, met with Ahmadinejad and told him that rumors that link him to the Mahdi were dangerous, particularly rumors that he converses

with him.

Askar-Oladi, who is also head of the Imam Khomeini Committee, accused Ahmadinejad’ s advi

sor, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, of helping to spread the rumors.

“In what capacity does he talk about religious matters? Why does he issue controversial statements and leave you to provide explanations for the public?” Askar-Oladi reportedly told Ahmadinejad during their meeting.

According to observers, the criticism Askar-Oladi directed at Mashaei and several of the president’s close aides are in fact directed at the president himself for he is seen as

the main source for the latest claims about the coming of the Mahdi.

In a recent speech, Ahmadinejad claimed he had documented evidence that the U.S. invaded Iraq in order to prevent the coming of the Mahdi, and stressed that the Iranian people would prepare the ground for his coming and would form the Mahdi Army.

Previously, Ahmadinejad claimed a halo of light surrounded him as he addressed the United Nations General Assembly.

Source: Alarabiya.net, December 14, 2009

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Trusting A Weasel To Be A Lawyer FOR CHICKENS,

I am afraid the Weasel’s fee would be FRIED CHICKEN!

Turkey moderating between Syria and Israel is an Example,

Which surely ends up with Israel being a roast beef Sandwich!

The European Union Over the Past 15 Years Drove Turkey to Iran!

Europe has directly or indirectly gotten us into two great W

orld Wars,

And it is indirectly Partially Responsible for Getting Us into the Final War!

Turkey will be one of the 10 horns of Daniel and Revelation attacking Israel!

December 14, 2009

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Daniel 7:24,25 – And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. [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.

Begin Excerpt from the Khaleej Times via World News

Is Turkey Still a Viable Middle East Interlocutor?

Claude Salhani

13 December 2009

The question may be raised whether Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan can play the role of a viable interlocutor in the Middle East peace process after his verbal attacks against Israel made during his visit to Washington this week?

Erdogan, whose country was once Israel’s only friend in the Middle East lambasted the behaviour of the Jewish state for its actions during the war against the Hamas-led resistance in Gaza last December. Additionally, the Turkish prime minister sharply criticised Israel for possessing nuclear weapons while calling for Iran to suspend its nuclear programme.

“This is a situation where we clearly have double standards,” said Erdogan, much to the consternation of Israeli diplomats and supporters in the audience. His statements even upset many Turks who see this shift in Kemalist policy as a dangerous step for Turkey.

Mustapha Kemal Ataturk, the architect of modern day Turkey intended to distance the nation from its Ottoman past by aligning it more with Europe and away from the Middle East.

Indeed, Turkey has been fighting an uphill battle with the European Union for the good part of a decade and a half.

Turkey feels it has met all the requirements put forward by the EU, but that Brussels keeps changing the rules along the way. Erdogan compared the EU’s attitude towards Turkey to “changing the rules for the quarterback in a football game in the 36th minute.”

Erdogan went on to say that “Turkey has been in Limbo during the past 15 years.”

In that context, therefore, it should really come as no surprise to anyone – least of all the Europeans who have opposed Turkey’s entry into the EU – to see Turkey begin to gradually re-align its foreign policy in favour of the Arab and Muslim East. At least in this region Turkey is regarded as a regional powerhouse and a force to be reckoned with, as opposed to the West where many Turks are fed up of being seen as the poor man trying to gain entry into an elite club.

The Turkish prime minister however stated, “there was no change in the axis of his country’s foreign policy.” In two consecutive speeches earlier, Erdogan said his country would continue to play the role of the intermediary in trying to mediate between Palestinians and Israelis and between Syrians and Israelis.

Of course, after his diatribe lashed out against Israel, which drew considerable criticism from supporters of Israel, it is now highly questionable if the Turkish prime minister will be accepted by the Jewish state as an honest interlocutor in the Middle East peace process.

This change of attitude by Turkey comes as no surprise to this reporter who had in fact predicted in numerous columns over the years that the European Union could not continue to treat Turkey the way it had and not expect Ankara at some point to turn away from Brussels and begin a rapprochement with countries of the Middle East and Central Asia. Erdogan’s speech was no doubt a move designed to demonstrate to his followers back home his political independence from Washington. The Turkish prime minister’s speeches will win him many points both at home and in the Arab/Muslim world.

While the prime minister’s discourse on Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories was received with stupor by Israeli diplomats, Arab diplomats on the other hand were more than pleased.

“He said what Arabs leaders should be saying but don’t dare say,” an Arab diplomat who asked not to be identified told this reporter that the Turkish prime minister’s speech “courageous.”

In what was clearly another jab at Israel, Erdogan called for a “legitimate order” in the Middle East saying, “forcing paranoia based on the fear of the other does not work.

“We will not be able to solve our problems through military interventions and sheer power,” said Erdogan, adding that the solution to the problem should come through diplomacy.

The Turkish prime minister said that Iran producing nuclear weapons “is not just a threat for the region, but for the entire globe.” But, said Erdogan, “if a country possesses nuclear weapons, it cannot ask others to give them up.”

“Everyone should look in the mirror,” said Erdogan, referring to Israel’s policy of refusing to discus the issue.

Indeed, while it is no secret that Israel has long possessed a nuclear arsenal the country’s leadership has never allowed international observers from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watch dog arm of the United Nations.

Claude Salhani is the editor of the Middle East Times and author of “While the Arab World Slept: the impact of the Bush years on the Middle East.”

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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.