UN envoy warns of ‘catastrophe’ if Gaza violence resumes / The Times of Israel, March 26, 2019
The United Nations envoy for the Middle East warned Tuesday of catastrophic consequences from escalating violence in Gaza as fighting threatened to resume following a shaky ceasefire.
Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council that a “fragile calm” had returned to the region but that the situation remained “extremely tense” following reports that Hamas had agreed to a truce.
“I am concerned that we may once again be facing another very dangerous escalation of violence in Gaza with potentially catastrophic consequences,” Mladenov told a council meeting on the Middle East.
Iran making progress in plan for Israel’s annihilation / Arutz Sheva, March 18, 2019
Iran continues its efforts to turn Syria and Iraq into proxy states and is near completion of its land bridge from Tehran to the Mediterranean Sea and the Israeli border on the Golan Heights.
Iran is currently helping Hezbollah to modernize its missile arsenal which largely consists of crude missiles. The GPS equipment enables Iran and Hezbollah to convert 14,000 Zelzal-2 and 3 missiles into precision weapons.
Last Thursday, the IRGC held a large-scale exercise with remotely controlled combat aircraft (UAV’s) in the Persian Gulf. The exercise was named Bayt al-Maqdis, the original name that the first Muslims used for Jerusalem.
Hizbollah’s military capabilities have increased significantly as a result of the war in Syria and are now estimated as 100 times higher than what the Lebanese terror organization had during the war with Israel in 2006, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday.
All this makes it clear that Iran is steadily making progress in its preparations for a multi-front war against Israel.
Trump recognizes Golan to counter Iran’s first steps for annexing Lebanon to Syria / Debka, March 21, 2019
US President Donald Trump’s declared recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan on Thursday, March 21, had a time-sensitive object, unconnected to the Israeli election or Binyamin Netanyahu’s run for reelection, as his rivals contended. DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources reveal that it was an arrow aimed by the US president at Iran, Syria, Iraq and Hizballah, and the machinations plotted at Syrian President Bashar Assad’s meeting with Iran’s supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khameini on Feb. 25
Events in the Middle East are converging toward catastrophe, as multiple events push the area closer to confrontation. As Passover approaches, along with the re-election campaign for the current PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli military is readying for protests along the Gaza border planned for Palestinians’ Land Day. This also marks a year since the start of weekly violent protests along the Israel-Gaza border, known as the March of Return.
Meanwhile, Israel is being pushed into a regional peace agreement, in order to form an alliance against Iran. All the major players are picking sides right now, for the upcoming Shia vs. Sunni war, as outlined in the Book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39.
How the Gulf States Got in Bed With Israel and Forgot About the Palestinian Cause / FP, March 28, 2019
Benjamin Netanyahu is building ties with anti-Iran Arab leaders from Riyadh to Doha and betting that a peace deal is no longer a necessary prerequisite for normalizing diplomatic ties.
The new relationship between the Gulf and Israel is part of a larger shift that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to spearhead, whereby regional Sunni Arab states openly align themselves with Israel in opposition to Iran. The White House sees a watered-down Israeli-Palestinian peace deal as part of this process.
Before leaving for Chad on Jan. 20, Netanyahu called his visit, which marked the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries after they were severed in 1972, “part of the revolution that we are doing in the Arab and Islamic worlds; I promised you that this would happen. … There will be more countries,” he vowed. He has similarly been forthcoming in disclosing Israel’s not-so-secret ties with the “sons of Ishmael” all the while continuing to declare that not a single West Bank settler would be forced to leave on his watch.
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What will happen next? The Bible gives us the answer:
Jesus shouted again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And they came out of the tombs after His resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:50-53)
The Lord designed the 7 major Jewish feasts around a lunisolar calendar. A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year.
The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. (Leviticus 23:1-2)
Beginning in the spring, the seven Jewish feasts are Passover (Pesach), the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).
The Jewish feasts are closely related to Israel’s spring and fall harvests and agricultural seasons. They were to remind the Israelites each year of God’s ongoing protection and provision. But, even more importantly, they foreshadowed the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Not only did they play significant roles in Christ’s earthly ministry but they also symbolize the complete redemptive story of Christ, beginning with His death on the cross as the Passover Lamb and ending with His second coming after which He will “tabernacle” or dwell with His people forever.
This calendar could also be seen as God’s prophetic program of redemption for individuals as well as nationally, for all Israel. The Sunday morning after the Shabbat that followed the Passover was the harvesting of the omer of the first fruits of the barley harvest (Leviticus 23:9-14).
The Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread. But what of the omer (sheaf) of the first fruits of the barley harvest? The Apostle Paul gives us a hint as to its meaning when he wrote to the Church at Corinth about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He stated:
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ. (1 Corinthians 15: 20-23).
The resurrection of the saints from Jerusalem gives every believer the assurance that one day there will be a world-wide resurrection, and believers in the Lord Jesus will live eternally with Him!
Brothers, I tell you this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption cannot inherit incorruption.
Listen! I am telling you a mystery:
We will not all fall asleep,
but we will all be changed,
in a moment, in the blink of an eye,
at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised incorruptible,
and we will be changed.
For this corruptible must be clothed
with incorruptibility,
and this mortal must be clothed
with immortality.
When this corruptible is clothed
with incorruptibility,
and this mortal is clothed
with immortality,
then the saying that is written will take place:
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting?
Now the sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
(1 Corinthians 15: 50-58)
If you are not sure that you are saved, you can accept Christ into your life right now, by praying:
“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior.”
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Rapture and End Times 