Prophecy Continually Being Fulfilled

The news today surrounding the Annapolis Summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and President Bush could be another historic step in revealed biblical prophecy regarding the Holy Land of Israel.

Before I get to the details, I want to mention the fact that there are protests going on in the West Bank amongst the Palestinians (violent ones...how typical...). In Israel, there are protests and prayer vigils. Religious Orthodox Jews have gathered by the thousands to peacefully pray at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

The reasons for the discontent? They are very different when you compare the reasons of the Palestinians motives verses the reasons for turning to God by the Orthodox Jews.

There is no doubt that the risks are great at this Annapolis Conference.

For some reason, this WND article title puts chills down my spine:


Arabs at conference called 'step forward' 'President is pleased so many countries are coming'


The Palestinian extremists (President Bush's politically-correct label) don't want peace.

Period!!

They are into their jihadist brainwashed mindset and don't want anything to do with the "Road map to Peace." They don't want a "road map"! They want Israel and the Jewish people wiped off the map!!

The Orthodox Jews fear that the concessions that President Abbas is asking for at this Summit (e.g. his demand for total control of East Jerusalem) could negatively affect the ability to rebuild the Temple Mount.

Whenever new developments come about regarding Israel and peace talks with the Palestinians, I get out the book written by Grant R. Jeffrey called The Next World War - What Prophecy Reveals About Extreme Islam and the West.

Dr. Tim LaHaye, coauthor of the Left Behind series, had this to say about Jeffrey's book:

"A must read for anyone who cares about what is next on God's prophetic calendar."

I highly recommend this book to any Christian believer who would like to see the great work that Grant Jeffrey has done in discussing world events in light of ancient prophecies.

I guarantee that if you read this book, you will gain much greater understanding over the reasons for the global turmoil that we face today.

To whet your appetite and possibly inspire you to purchase and read this book, take a look at the table of contents. It gives you an idea of all that you could learn from Jeffrey's writings:

Part I: The Ancient Beginning of the Last Days
Genesis and the Future

1. The Roots of Arab Muslim Hatred
Enmity Between Ishmael and Isaac Has Come Home to Roost

2. God Brings His People Back to the Holy Land
Who Has the Legitimate Claim to Palestine?

3. Koranic Prophecies of Islam's Defeat
Amazingly, the Muslim Scriptures Predict the Return of Christ

Part II: The Origins of Islamic Terrorism
Why It's Necessary to Understand Islam Before Studying Terrorism

4. The Warrior Prophet
Muhammad and His Strategy of Conversion by Conquest

5. The Sixth Pillar of Islam - Jihad
How Holy War Gained Unrivaled Prominence

6. Osama bin Laden Declares War on the West
The Military Threat from Radical Islam

7. Al Qaeda's Strategies and Resources
Weaponry, Communications, and Plans for Warfare

Part III: The Deeper Significance of Global Terror
Extreme Islam's Declaration of War Is Foretold in Prophecy

8. Islam's War Against All Perceived Enemies
The Militant Justification for Violence Against Non-Muslims

9. Iraq's Terror Connection
Evidence of Saddam Hussein's Support of al Qaeda

10. The Deeper Threat of Terrorism
The Terrorists' True Goals and How the Media Get It Wrong

Part IV: Our Generation Has Entered The Last Days
Clear Signs of the Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy

11. The Arab War Against Israel
Overwhelming Evidence of the Commitment to Eliminate the Jews from Palestine

12. Will This War Signal the Last Days?
Signs of the Coming War of Gog and Magog

13. A New Temple for the Last Days
Developments That Will Set the Stage for the Antichrist

14. Peace Between Arabs and Jews
How God Will Bring About a Final Reconciliation

Now that I have included a written commercial encouraging readers here to buy Jeffrey's book, perhaps the author won't mind if I quote him extensively in my post? :-)

Just the chapter headings gives you a good idea about how thoroughly the author has researched this subject. What I want to concentrate on is chapter 13 - A New Temple for the Last Days.

As I mentioned previously, the Orthodox Jews in Israel are praying for the failure of this latest Summit between Olmert, Abbas, and President Bush. Why? Precisely because they fear that the concessions being discussed will be very detrimental to Israel's ability to keep all of Jerusalem as it's capital city. Plus, there is the fear that such concessions will lead to the relinquishment of the spot where the Third Temple could be rebuilt on the Temple Mount.

Jeffrey writes:

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel has controlled the entire city of Jerusalem for the first time in nineteen hundred years. Israel allows Muslim authorities to control religious activities and to police (without firearms) the Temple Mount with its Muslim shrine, the Dome of the Rock. Religious Jews don't worship in the area of the dome because the chief rabbis warn they might inadvertently trespass on the site of the Holy of Holies. Muslim control of the Temple Mount is thereby fulfilling the prophecy of Luke 21:24 that "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."

While Israel has demonstrated her willingness to allow Arabs full legal rights as citizen with access to all the sacred sties, the Arabs are adamant that the Jews and Christians will not have similar freedom to worship in Palestinian-controlled areas.

(bold mine)

Read that last sentence again. It is one of the reasons why both Christians and Orthodox Jews are upset with the "Road map to Peace." Every so-called "peace" treaty has led first to concessions by the Israelis, then more bloodshed because the Arab terrorist groups continue to send rocket bombs into Israel and suicide bombers into Israel in order to kill as many of the Jews as they can. The term "peace" is a farce to these terrorists!! Concessions do not lead to peace! They lead to a weakened Israeli State, more violence from the enemies that surround Her, and more bloodshed on both sides.

The concessions that are on the table today is reminiscent of what Moshe Dayan did after the dramatic Jewish victory over the Arab armies in the Six-Day War in June 1967. To paraphrase Jeffrey, what happened was Dayan met with the Supreme Muslim Council and established Israel's religious and political policy concerning the Temple Mount. This policy has not changed. Dayan, a nonreligious Jew did not understand the significance of the sacred Temple Mount for Israel, so he relinquished control of the area to the Arabs in the vain hope that his generous gesture would be appreciated.

Jeffrey:

Unfortunately, despite the victory of the Six-Day War, the Muslim Arabs interpreted Dayan's surrender of the most sacred site of the Jews as an indication of Israel's weakness of resolve.

Doesn't this sound very familiar to the current situation between Olmert and Abbas? Again, we have a non-religious Jewish leader ready to give huge portions of land, and, if Abbas gets his way, a portion of the city of Jerusalem!

This is very tragic, people! The fact that many of Israel's past political and military leaders think that the Temple Mount only represents historical significance, has led them into a long series of decisions that relinquished vital territory and religious rights.

When Dayan made this concession back in 1967, it is unbelievable that he agreed to the administrative control of the Muslim Council which would only allow limited access to the mount (by Jews) but prayer by Jews and Christians were strictly prohibited!

In the "Discerning the Signs of the Times" blog post (link below), we read:

4. REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE, RESTORATION OF TEMPLE WORSHIP AND ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN JERUSALEM

For several end time prophecies to be fulfilled, the temple will have to be rebuilt.

Revelation 11:2 "Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months."

Some archeaologists believe that the temple mount is actually 340 feet south of the Dome of the Rock site, putting the Dome of the Rock within the Court of the Gentiles. This may be the court outside the temple that is left out.

There are many groups already working on preparations for the new temple. The blueprints are already done, the temple garments have been made, and there have already been attempts to lay the cornerstone of the temple. The only thing standing in the way of the construction of the new temple is Islam's third holiest site, the Dome of the Rock and government support for such an undertaking. Some possible scenarios for the rebuilding of the temple are as follows:

1. The persuasion and performing of miracles by the Antichrist and False Prophet convinces the Islamic world to approve the rebuilding.

2. The United Nations will negotiate the rebuilding of the temple following a war with the armies from the North (Russia and Islamic forces). This assumes that the war with the armies from the North is not the battle of Armageddon as some feel and that this attack occurs before the rapture or tribulation period begins. The supernatural destruction of the Russian army and Islamic forces will cause an outpouring of Christian worship and zeal amongst the Jewish people who will reconstruct the temple.

3. It is determined that the site of the first two temples is actually south of the Dome of the Rock, and the court of the gentiles (Dome of the Rock) will be left out of the 3rd temple.

A group in Israel called the Temple Mount Faithful have obtained most of the clothing, instruments and other equipment required for temple worship and are actively preparing for the laying of the third temple's cornerstone.

Grant Jeffrey has come to a similar conclusion regarding the Dome of the Rock and where the Third Temple would be built.

Jeffrey:

...the Third Temple could be rebuilt on the original site, and the Dome of the Rock could remain in the Court of the Gentiles more than 150 feet to the south of the rebuilt Temple, as indicated in John's prophecy (see Revelation 11:1-2)

The calculation of the distance of the location for the Third Temple may be a bit different (Jeffrey: 150 feet; Discerning times essay: 340 feet), but the fact that the original location of the First (Solomon's) and Second Temples (both destroyed on the 9th day of August in 587 BC and in AD 70, respectively) are not under the Dome of the Rock location, brings additional Bible prophecy alive and fulfilled!

You may be asking, what prophecy does this fulfill?

Jeffrey writes:

Many Israelis today feel that allowing Muslim authorities to exercise administrative control over the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount was a tremendous error in political judgment. However, even this decision was the fulfillment of a nineteen-hundred-year-old prophecy made by John in the book of Revelation. In a vision of the final Tribulation period of three and a half years leading up to the battle of Armageddon, John is told by the angel, "Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 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" (Revelation 11:1-2).

John predicts that there will be a period after the rebuilding of the Temple and the sacrificial altar in which a large part of the Temple Mount known as the Court of the Gentiles (the court that is outside the Temple) will remain under the control of the Gentiles (Arab Muslims) for forty-two months, until Christ returns to set up His millennial kingdom.

There are so many details that I would like to share from Jeffrey's book. Perhaps I can add them in updates to this post.

Jeffrey:

God has promised repeatedly in Scripture that the Temple will be rebuilt in the last days. These prophecies include predictions by Amos (750 BC) (see Amos 9:11), Micah (740 BC) (see Micah 4:1); and Haggai (520 BC) (see Haggai 2:9).

Daniel prophesied twenty-five hundred years ago that the Temple would be rebuilt and would serve as the center of Israel's worship and sacrifice in the generation when the Messiah would return. In Daniel's famous vision of the seventy weeks (see Daniel 9:24-27), he predicted that the last great world dictator would arise from the revived Roman Empire and would conclude a seven-year peace treaty with Israel. After only three and a half years, the world leader would arbitrarily violate the seven-year treaty; at that time he would enter the rebuilt Temple and "he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" (Daniel 9:27).

Before Daniel's prophecy can be fulfilled, the Jews must reinstate the ancient Levitical sacrificial system on the altar on the Temple Mount.

For now, I want to share a speculation that Jeffrey wrote about regarding the rebuilding of the Third Temple.

In the near future, a dramatic change must occur in the political and religious leadership of Israel to allow the rebuilding of the Temple. What would motivate modern-day Israel to overcome the many significant obstacles to rebuilding the Temple? I believe it will be Israel's recognition of the defeat of extreme Islam through the supernatural act of God in the coming War of Gog and Magog. [Note: this is discussed extensively in chapters 11 and 12.] In addition, the recovery of the long-lost ark of the covenant would provide a powerful incentive since the original purpose of both the Tabernacle and the Temple was to provide a sacred house for the holy ark. Jeremiah 3:16 suggests that when the Messiah returns, Israel will stop visiting the ark of the covenant. This prophecy strongly suggests that at some point prior to Christ's return, the ark will be restored to Israel and will be a focus of the people's worship. But once Jesus rules from the throne of David in Jerusalem, the ark will no longer be the major focus of worship, as Christ will rule as King of kings.

I have read the books of several prophecy experts (LaHaye, Jeffrey, Hagee, Hindson) and every one of them has concluded that the U.S. will not be involved in the battle of Gog and Magog. Reasons and speculations may abound, but I must ask - does anyone think that a possible reason why the U.S. administration (at that time in the future) may feel that they can't get involved because they are the brokers of the "Road map to Peace" deal?

Again, I admit that this may only be additional speculation on my part, but does anyone else out there think it could possibly end up being one possible reason?

Please know that I am not attempting to be "prophetic" here. I simply mentioned this as a possible reason why the U.S. may not be involved in that prophetic war. I recall that Ed Hindson mentioned several other possible reasons why the U.S. might be prevented from entering into that war.

*******
Added on at 3:53 p.m. PT -

One prophecy expert mentioned the possibility that the reason we would not come to Israel's aid in the Gog and Magog war might be because a liberal Democrat is president.

Eeek!!!

Gasp!!!

Horrors!!!!

Remember that when you enter the voting booth in 2008!

Sorry...couldn't resist.

I realize that I need to be praying without ceasing about this upcoming election! I need to be prayerful about the direction our country is headed in and when it comes to praying for the next person to occupy the Oval Office of the Presidency. We all need to keep this in prayer.

However, when I think about the Democratic choice who ultimately wins the nomination, I need to pray ever so much more fervently that the Republican nominee wins!!

Please know that it's not about the person...it's about the ideology. All of the current democratic nominees are too far left for my taste. When it comes down to the Democrat nominee being president, I have to pray....God forbid!!

*******to be continued*******
Check back for future updates to this post!

Quotes from: The Next World War - What Prophecy Reveals About Extreme Islam and the West by Grant Jeffrey. Published by WaterBrook Press, 2006 pp. 154-164

HT: WorldNetDaily

Fox News

Related Blog posts:

We Are Witnessing Biblical Prophecy

Jerusalem Countdown

David's Incredible Prophecy of Israel's Enemies Today

Zechariah's Warning to Bush and Condi

Discerning Signs of the Times