The acts of violence against the citizens of Israel in the last few weeks are too numerous to mention here. If by chance you made a quick trip to the moon and just got back, things in Israel are bad. Fear of terrorism is rampant. Israel is placing armed guards at the entrances to virtually all public places now including synagogues, schools, stores, and all public areas.
The Palestinians meanwhile are rejoicing over the deaths of their suicide attackers proclaiming them heroes and praying that the “spirit of the terrorists” will prevail over the rest of the Jewish people. They are called “defenders of the Mosque in Jerusalem and of the Palestinian people.”
The world, on the other hand, stares on in silence and blames the Israelis. A recent CNN news reporter parroted the Hamas line that since all citizens serve in the IDF then all citizens of Israel are legitimate targets for attack. According to them this includes two-year old children and old people; it is not limited to uniformed forces as the rest of the world declares. What is worse is that this CNN reporter and apparently other Americans think the same way.
Most people don’t know this but Hamas is the organization that pays for the Palestinian administrators that run the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock (they call it the Noble Sanctuary), but it is referred to in Israel as the “Temple Mount.” It is believed that the Jewish Temple was there before the Romans destroyed it. The “so called” provocations against Israel about the temple mount have been proved time and again to be total fabrications and lies. Yes, there are Jews who want to pray on the mount, and they would like a designated area for them to set a cornerstone and erect an altar. The Jewish Supreme Court has already ruled that Jews have a right to be there; however, the police get to limit the activity due to “security” issues. Presently, the riots and attacks throughout Jerusalem and Israel stem from the lies and rhetoric from the Hamas-controlled religious leaders in Jerusalem. Their position is clear. They forbid any Jews from accessing the area (including the Kotel). The present status quo is becoming untenable even though Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing his best to keep it going.
Hamas, as you know, just lost another Gaza missile war and has decided to use the temple mount issue to inspire personal attacks in Jerusalem. Does the world know this? Yes. Does this change anything for them? No. Israel is somehow still guilty of something and should be blamed for the trouble.
So what is Israel doing to try and quell the problems and get back to some kind of peace in the streets? First, they have called up more police and military units to patrol and guard the public areas. Secondly, they bulldoze the homes of any terrorist attacker. Thirdly, they are asking for help from other nations such as the United States and Europe (who fund the Palestinians to do what they do). Fourth, Netanyahu is trying to get back to the status quo by vowing not to change anything on the temple mount; i.e., prohibit religious Jews from going up to the mount.
But here is why the efforts of Israel will not work. First, the Palestinians are bloodthirsty killers taught from the earliest age to slaughter Jews. Given their dire social and economic status, made even worse by the Palestinian leadership they view dying as an option. They think they will be heroes and go to heaven to have all of the sex they can desire. Simply put, they are out of their ever lovin’ minds. Secondly, God’s word says there will be an altar on the temple mount with the daily sacrifice. It also goes on to say that it will be shut down. That particular event will be part of the prophecy of the Abomination of Desolation (the start of the Great Tribulation). No Mabel, there is no rapture before the Great Tribulation. While I admire Prime Minister Netanyahu greatly, his policy of keeping the status quo will not stand against God fulfilling His prophetic word. Thirdly, the double standard used by the nations against Israel will permit Israel to do anything in a reasonable fashion concerning this matter.
Very soon, the following things will happen but not necessarily in this sequence. There will be war in the Middle East. The Arabs and Palestinians will lose badly. The government of Israel will yield to prayer on the temple mount. An altar will be built. The Mosque and Dome will not be hindered. Israel will be condemned. Churchmen will condemn Israel and the altar together. The altar will be forced to shut down. The Great Tribulation 1,290 day count will begin. Churchmen will argue that the Great Tribulation has not begun because they haven’t been raptured yet. The antimessiah and the false prophet will begin to rise in the midst of the controversy on the temple mount. Churchmen who blasphemed the altar will die first. The Revelation judgments will fall on the earth. Those who believe in the God of Israel will escape, survive, and endure. The Lord returns in the days after the Tribulation. The enemies of God are dust and ashes. The kingdom begins.
As we stand at this moment in late November, what are the odds that the altar could be built on the temple mount soon? I don’t know the answer to that yet, but every time an Israeli is killed in random acts of terror in Jerusalem, the resolve of those who want to build the altar increases and Netanyahu’s policy to maintain the status quo decreases. Could the altar be set up and shut down somewhere in December, January, or February? The probability of that is higher than in any time in history. That means that this winter could be the start. Passover in April 2015 could be the time to escape.
Oh by the way, setting aside the altar and temple mount issue… You do know that there is a foreboding sense of bad things coming. We are talking about anarchy, economic collapse, war, famine, disease, and massive death tolls. That’s just for America; the rest of world will even be worse.
