Jerusalem – In the Midst of Israel (God’s Promised Land from Dan to Beersheba)!
October 8, 2006
http:www.tribulationperiod.com/
Zechariah 14:1 – Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
If one draws a line from Dan to Beersheba it is easy to see that the great city
of Jerusalem lies in the “Midst of Israel.” The many reports from various services, since the cease fire in Lebanon under Resolution 1701, leave little doubt in my mind that an eventual Jihad against Israel from the north is coming soon. My guesstimate as to when the Jihad will be launched, as you well know, is at some point in time between 2008 and 2012.
My comments on “The land from Dan to Beersheba” expression used in the Sc
riptures is next, followed by articles from DEBKAfile Report and Haaretz, followed by my comments on Jerusalem in Archive Prophecy Update Number 132.
The “Promised Land” God gave to Israel was understood to stretch from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south from Judges 20:1 to the end of Solomon’s Kingdom. And some of the break away 10 northern tribes still occasionally observed Passover in Jerusalem in days of King Hezekiah.
Judges 20:1 – Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the Lord in Mizpeh.
All Israel, which consisted of the Jews from Dan to Bersheba, accepted the man Samuel as a prophet of the Lord.
I Samuel 3:20 – And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.
The kingdom of Israel under Saul, David, and Solomon was accepted as stretching from Dan to Beersheba.
II Samuel 3:10 – To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beer-sheba.
The gathering of “all Israel” for battle was considered to be called from Dan to Beersheba.
II Samuel 17:11 – Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
II Samuel 24:2 – For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, and number ye the people, that
I may know the number of the people.
God’s punishment on Israel was from Dan to Beersheba because David numbered the tribes.
II Samuel 24:15 – So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.
I Chronicles 21:1,2 – And Satan stood up against Israel, and p
rovoked David to number Israel. [2] And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
II Chronicles 30:5 – The Passover was to be observed in Jerusalem by all Jews from Dan to Beersheba.
So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written.
After the return from Babylonian Captivity the definition of the land of Israel became “from Beersheba unto the valley of Hinnom.” The valley of Hinnom touched the southern wall of the Temple Mount in the days of Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, Ezra, and Zechariah the prophet.
Nehemiah 11:30 – Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish, and the fields thereof, at Azekah, and in the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Beer-sheba unto the valley of Hinnom.
Begin DEBKAfile Report
DEBKAfile reports: Israeli Golan forces on Syrian border in state of preparedness for Yom Kippur War anniversary.
September 30, 2006
They are braced for a possible decision by Syrian president Bashar Assad to make good on his recent belligerent statements. Asad has said that Syria is losing patience over the delays in recovering the Golan and certain elements are preparing a campaign of terror in the territory. Israeli officers and the security officers of local communities were cautioned ahead of Yom Kippur to stand ready for terrorist incursions from Syria, attacks on army posts and roads, roadside devices and kidnap attempts.
DEBKAfile reports that the presence of 5,000 United Nations troops and Lebanese army units in S. Lebanon has done nothing to hinder Hizballah’s return to its former fortified village sanctuaries within sight of the Israeli border, or
its access to replenished arms dumps. Neither set foot in Hizballah strongholds.
The land from Dan to Beersheba, a distance of 144 miles, became the usual way of designating the entire “Promised Land,” and passed into a proverb as such. After Israel’s return from Babylonian Captivity, the phrase was changed to “from Beersheba to the valley of Hinnom.”
End DEBKAfile Report
Begin Haaretz Article
Assad: Syrian Military preparing for War with Israel
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
October 7, 2006
The Syrian military is preparing for war with Israel, Syria’s President Bashar Assad told the Quwaiti newspaper Al-Anba on Saturday.
Assad also said he believes Israel has abandonded the peace process.
Syrian Information Minister Muhsen Bilal also said Saturday that his country is preparing for war with Israel, but added that Syria is interested in peace.
Bilal made the comments in an interview broadcast on Al-Jazeera.
“Syria is taking into account the possibility that Israel will embark on a military adventure in against Syria,” said Bilal. “We are preparing for every possibility.”
According to Bilal, Israel intended to “crush Hezbollah” and impose its control in Lebanon, but failed to do so.
“The crisis which Israel finds itself in today, following its failure in Lebanon, could lead it to attack Syria,” said Bilal. “We always emphasized our lack of faith in Israeli governments, and this is especially true of the current government.”
Bilal added that Syria is interested in peace with Israel, saying it was Israel that was responsible for the collapse of peace talks between the two nations in the year 2000.
Bilal presented the Syrian principles for peace with Israel. He said any agreement must be based on UN decisions calling for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, southern Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and the recognition of the right of return of
Palestinian refugees to Israel.
End Haaretz Article
PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 132
August 8, 2003
Zechariah Exposition 13:8 TO 14:16
Part 3
Please look back at the following Prophecy Updates before reading 132: 130 (Part 1), 130D, and 131 (Part 2).
Americans are accustomed to read the account of an event found in the straight line, progressive style of writing. But the prophetic writers, at times, hopped back and forth between prophetic events separated by as much as a thousand years, and chronology is often difficult to maintain in interpreting them.
When writing about end time events they would write about the beginning of the tribulation period, then
jump over to the 2nd Advent and into the millennial reign, then spring backward to what led up to the tribulation period, then rush to the end of it and the final battle of Armageddon, etc., etc., etc. So, at times, it is not easy to separate the events they describe, especially within the chapter and verse divisions in the Scriptures supplied by the King James translators. So, with this in mind, please look at Zechariah 13:8 to 14:2.
Zechariah 13:8 to 14:2 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. [1] 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.
In verse 8 we are advised the southward rushing Jihad from Dan drives Israel into the Negev wilderness south of Beersheba, and that some two-thirds of the Jewish population will perish.
Verse 9 tells us God will allow Israel’s faith in Him to be tried in the Negev for some three and one- half years.
We are advised they will be severely tried by the fire of the last 1260 days of tribulation in the Negev, but they will eventually cry out to their God, and he will deliver them.
This whole event lasts some 1260 days, and the Second Advent ends it. Now, as we move into the next verse of the continuous narrative, the writer backs up in time in Chapter 14,1,2 and tells us of an event associated with the Jihad attack of Zechariah 13:8.
Zechariah 14:1 – Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
Jerusalem sets “in the midst” of Israel, and its spoils shall be divided among the 10 conquering nations.
Once again, in the prophetic style of writing, in the next verse, in the last phrase, he jumps to the end of the 1260 days, and assures Israel that God will preserve a remnant in the Negev, which will return some 1260 days after Jerusalem falls.
Zechariah 14:2 – 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 word KARATH is translated “CUT OFF.” There are several words translated “cut off” in the KJV. KARATH means “TO BE CUT OFF FOREVER.” The other Hebrew words translated “cut off’ usually provided a way for the offender to be restored to fellowship with Israel, but KARATH implies BEING CUT OFF WITHOUT ANY CHANCE OF BEING ALLOWED TO RETURN. The word translated RESIDUE is the Hebrew word YETHER, which is translated as REMNANT in Micah 5:3. (See Prophecy Update Number 64)
Micah 5:3 – Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the REMNANT of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. (See Prophecy Update Number 64)
In the last phrase of Zechariah 14:2, God is assuring the tribes of Israel that even if they will be driven out of Jerusalem, they will return some 1260 days later. He does this by the use of the word “NOT.” The residue (REMNANT) of the people (ISRAELIS) shall NOT be CUT OFF from the city.
When Jerusalem falls, God begins to fight for Israel, and it begins a period of 1260 days, through which he will extend his protective shield over them in the Negev wilderness.
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