Times of a crooked Serpent and the Dragon are not Far Distant Events
Excerpt action will be of great value to Israel in the Tribulation Period.
On October 21 Israel Will Drill to Prepare for a Major Natural Disaster.
October 11, 2012
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Isaiah 29:6 – Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
Isaiah 26:20 to 27:1 – Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. [21] For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. [1] In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Revelation 12:3-14 – And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. [4] And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. [5] And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. [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. [7] And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, [8] And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. [9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. [10] And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. [11] And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. [12] Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. [13] And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. [14] And to the woman 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 19:19 to 20:3 – And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. [21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. [1] And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. [2] And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, [3] And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Haggai 2:6-9 – For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; [7] And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. [8] The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. [9] The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 14:5,9 – And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. [9] And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
Micah 4:1-3 – But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. [2] And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. [3] And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Begin Excerpt from YNet News
Drill to prepare home front for major quake
For first time, extensive exercise to simulate earthquake with tens of thousands of casualties
Yoav Zitun
October 10, 2012
The Home Front Defense Ministry will hold an extensive drill on October 21, aiming to prepare for a major natural disaster.
One scenario that is expected to be simulated in the annual exercise is a 5.6 magnitude earthquake originating in Eilot, Israel’s southernmost Kibbutz, and spreading across the country, gradually reaching an intensity of 7.1 on the Richter scale. The temblor would cause 7,000 deaths, wound 70,000 and render 170,000 homeless.
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The security forces will also prepare for the possibilities that a six-meter tsunami would wash over Tel Aviv’s shores and that dangerous materials would leak during such a quake.
This is the first time that rescue services will assay the prospect of a major temblor.
Schools will practice evacuation methods, and in the evening the general public will be asked via the media to go outside without being prompted by a siren.
As part of the drill, the Home Front Command will demolish a building in the central Israeli city of Holon in order to simulate search and rescue efforts. Meanwhile, IDF units will be dispatched to various sites to provide emergency response while reserve forces are called in.
One phase of the drill was held a week ago, at the Ben Gurion Airport, where crews practiced receiving and distributing aid arriving from across the world.
The first few days of the drill will deal with emergency response. Only on the eighth day will the state begin a “years-long rehabilitation process.” The police will practice maintaining control immediately after disaster strikes, before handing off the responsibility to the IDF and the Defense Ministry
No early warning
GOC Home Front Command Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg said Wednesday that Israel’s location in an area where tectonic plates meet make it prone to such disasters. He noted that the IDF will initially practice partial availability, in case some of its bases are hit in the quake.
Home Front Defense Minister Avi Dichter said that unlike a missile strike case, the state won’t be warned about an earthquake ahead of time.
“It would be pretty scary if it catches us off guard, and the situation will look different if we don’t practice,” he said.
Dichter cautioned against clinging to the belief that Israel is only hit by a major earthquake once in a century. The last such disaster occurred in 1927 in the Tiberias and Safed regions, and claimed the lives of 300 people. The minister, however, noted that “over the past 1,000 years earthquakes have rocked the region every 35 years, killing 15,000 people.”
“Our goal is to make sure that the state doesn’t tremble even if the earth does,” he said, noting that a major quake would bear no resemblance to emergencies caused by wars or major fires.
According to Dichter, 80 local authorities will take part in the exercise.
The ministry’s new director, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Gabi Ofir, said that the army expects that more than 150,000 people would have to be evacuated if a major earthquake strikes, and added that such a scenario will require the activation of forces beyond the Home Front Command.
Begin Archive Blog issued July 25, 2007
Earthquakes and the Last Jewish Attempt to Rebuild the Temple!
Earthquakes Do Have A History Of Affecting Temple Buildings!
Should Jews Rebuild the Third Temple before Messiah Comes?
July 25, 2007
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
The following article by Stephen Gabriel Goldberg in the Jerusalem Post is an interesting read, and one worth considering in the midst of the never ending bug-a-boo about the necessity of the Temple having to be rebuilt before the Messiah will return.
You might consider making a copy of this blog to keep with the blog that preceded it. The one before it gives an excellent account of the Temple Mount events prior to its destruction in 70 A.D., while this blog gives an excellent account of what has occurred since 70 A.D.
Begin Jerusalem Post Article
Should Jews build the Third Temple?
STEPHEN GABRIEL ROSENBERG, THE JERUSALEM POST
July 24, 2007
Traditionally the Temple Mount Faithful attempt to set up a foundation stone for the Third Temple on Tisha Be’av, and the police routinely prevent them from doing so. The occasion for this street theater is the anniversary of the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and that of the Second Temple in 70 CE, both said to have occurred on the same calendar date.
It is certainly right that the date be commemorated; but would rebuilding the Temple be an appropriate act for the State of Israel today?
Assuming there were no Dome of the Rock and no Muslim presence on the Temple Mount, no Wakf and no Aksa Mosque, the pressure to rebuild the Temple would be enormous – but would it, in historical terms, be sound?
The last time such an opportunity occurred was in the time of Julian the Apostate, in 362 CE. That Roman Emperor, who succeeded Constantine, reversed his predecessor’s decision to turn the empire into a Christian state and returned to the former pagan religions, which were permissive of other cults, including the Jewish one. It seems that he gave permission for the Temple to be rebuilt, and then went off to fight his enemies.
In Jerusalem work commenced on reconstructing the altar, but hardly had a few stones been put one on another, when a massive earthquake hit the area and the work collapsed. Worse still, Julian was killed in Persia and his place was taken by the Emperor Jovian, who reinstalled Christianity as the official religion. Any hope of rebuilding the Temple ceased, never to return.
IN 638 CE, the hordes of Islam conquered Jerusalem and by 692 the Caliph Abd al-Malik had completed the Dome of the Rock, which stood on the mountain inviolate for the following 1,315 years.
During the Crusader years it was converted to Christian use, and most Crusaders thought it had been built originally as the Temple of Solomon, but it was not changed structurally and returned to the Muslims on expulsion of the Crusaders in 1187. However, it did not return as a mosque, as it had never been one.
As the Dome was not a mosque, why did Abd al-Malik build it? It may be that he was attempting to set up a place of pilgrimage in competition to Mecca, which was controlled by his rival, Ibn al-Zubayr, but it seems more likely that, probably advised by an ex-Jewish companion, he recognized the historic significance of the site and in particular of the rock, the foundation stone, the even shetiya, that carried so much religious baggage. It was the scene of the Mihrab of Dawood (shrine of David) and the Bayit al-Makdis of Sulayman (Temple of Solomon) so al-Malik may have selected the site as a kind of location of ultimate holiness, maybe even for the Day of the Last Judgement.
The unique design of the building, a circular dome over an octagonal base, emphasized its concentration on the central feature, the Rock. Unlike any mosque, the building had no directional focus and was entered by four doorways, one to each of the cardinal points, as if to encourage access to persons or, indeed, their souls coming from the four corners of the earth.
LATER THE Muslims observed that the Rock was the mythical arrival and departure point of Mohammed on his white steed Buraq, but Abd al-Malik had recognized the precedence of Solomon and even Abraham on the site.
This makes it clear that the sanctity of the site stems from its Jewish origins, though the Muslims, of course, claim Abraham as one of their own, and venerate Solomon as divine. Now, even if the Muslim attitude would be to allow a Jewish presence, and even a rebuilding on the site, would it be in the Jewish interest to proceed with a third Temple?
WHEN HEROD decided to rebuild the Temple in 19 BCE, 18 years after having been handed the throne by the Romans, there must have been much trepidation among the population, the priests and others, about his intentions. He managed to calm their fears by employing only priests on the Temple itself and by enabling the Korban Tamid, the daily sacrifices, to continue without interruption.
The resources that he used were vast and would have pleased the local craftsmen, who were provided with employment for many years. The end result pleased even his rabbinic critics, though well after the event: “Whoever has not seen Herod’s building has never seen anything beautiful,” they crowed.
This was a surprising reaction, as very few rabbis were yet around to see the Temple in its glory. Additionally, modern reconstructions show a rather high, lopsided building with an overblown classical front sitting on a vast platform that completely ignores the beautiful mountain it covered. Such an oversize terrace must have intimidated anyone venturing on to it.
The huge expanse of uncovered space would not be conducive to our weather, be it sunshine or rain. For all its glory, the structure was not completed until 60 CE, well after the death of Herod, and it only stood another six years before its service was embroiled in the revolt against the Romans.
So what did Herod’s great work really achieve? Did it achieve unity among the Jewish people? Did it achieve harmony between our different factions? Did it achieve reconciliation with our governors, the Romans, who admired the structure built on classical lines by their favorite Jewish ruler? Did its presence give us protection against our enemies or absolution for our sins?
QUITE THE contrary. The daily sacrifices were used by the zealots to exclude the offering of the Roman emperor, which led to reprisals and insults by the occupying army. Different parties saw different ways of resolving the crisis, but could find no unanimity among themselves. The High Priest, who might have been a potential leader, was just another political appointment, as he had been under the Seleucids; even his sacred clothing was held hostage in the hands of the Roman governor. The priests were divided in their loyalties and unable to conduct the divine service in a dignified manner.
When it came to the actual revolt in Jerusalem, things turned perilous, and civil war reigned. The zealots, led by John of Gischala, got the upper hand and the peace party was unable to stop them. Another zealot leader, Simon bar Giora, was welcomed into the city to oppose Gischala, but the two soon joined together against the moderates. That union did not last and within a short time there were three “gangster” parties (in the words of Josephus) who burnt each other’s grain supplies, not realizing that they would all suffer in the end.
Only the Romans could benefit from the chaos, and so they did, in spite of the brave efforts put up by the separate parties, one of whom used the Temple precinct for a heroic, if vain, last stand. The magnificent Herodian Temple, as finally completed, had stood for only 10 years.
THIS WAS not so different from the vicissitudes of the First Temple. Solomon completed it with forced labor shifts, directed by his chief taskmaster, Adoniram. On Solomon’s death, the majority of the tribes revolted against his successor Rehoboam, put the hated Adoniram to death by stoning, and set up the Northern Kingdom, which had no use for the Temple.
In the south, the Temple was sacked by Pharaoh Shishak in about 925 BCE, and all its gold was stripped away and taken to Egypt. Rehoboam was forced to present to the people shields of polished brass to simulate the looted metal. The golden glory of Solomon’s Temple had lasted for just 40 years.
Not long after, king Asa had to use the replaced Temple treasures to bribe Ben-Hadad of Aram (Syria) to help him fight against Baasa, king of Northern Israel. Worse than all that loss of treasure was the fact that the First Temple, as described in our sacred books, became the focus of idol worship in the reigns of the Judahite kings Asa, Jehoram, Amaziah and the queen Athaliah, who gave its treasures to the House of Baal.
The timely restoration under Hezekiah was undermined by his son Manasseh, and the renaissance initiated by Josiah was sabotaged by the desecration of his successors that culminated in defeat by the Babylonians in 597 BCE, followed by destruction 11 years later.
What happened to the glory of the First Temple? It lasted 40 years. The Second Temple never achieved glory until its rebuilding by Herod, and that lasted 10 years.
Will a Third Temple fare any better? The records of history are against it.
The writer is a Fellow of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem.
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