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The following article points to possible reasons why America is not found in the Bible as a world power in the "last days".

By Joel C. Rosenberg

...What does the future hold?

From January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008, Americans lost $6.9 trillion in wealth in the stock markets.

Just since Barack Obama was elected, Americans have lost some $3 trillion in wealth, reports Investors’ Business Daily, as the markets have plummeted some 30%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, for example, has collapsed from 9,625.28 on November 4, 2008 to 6,647.49 on March 4, 2009.

Firesale prices are in effect — Citibank stocks are under $1 and General Motors shares are selling for less than $2 — as investors see major American financial and manufacturing behemoths on the brink of bankruptcy.

Zoom out a bit, and we see the situation even more dire. Since the market’s highs in October 2007, the DJIA is down some 50%. That means over the last 18 months, we have seen half the nation’s wealth vanish into thin air.

In the midst of all this, millions of Americans have lost their jobs. Small businesses are dying. Big businesses are dying. Credit is tight. Confidence is low. And people are anxious.

Last weekend, I met with some evangelical believer business leaders in Naples, Florida. They asked me what I thought the future held. I did not offer advice on how to win on Wall Street. But I did share with them a few thoughts from the Scriptures.

In Matthew 6:19-21, Yeshua said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there is your heart also.”

I asked the men, “More tough times may be ahead. If some of you have lost 30% to 50% of your assets, what are your plans going forward? What if another 30% to 50% of your wealth vanishes, or is confiscated in a massive new tax increase? Would it not be better to invest some or all of that wealth in the kingdom of God now, where it is safe and secure, while you still have it?”

The Lord is shaking our country and purifying His congregation. He is requiring all of us to reconsider what we value, where our treasure is, where our hearts are. He is preparing us to see Him face to face. And when we see Him, there will be a day of accounting. He will ask us what we did with the resources He entrusted to us. What, then, shall we say?

The men also asked me, ”Where is the United States in End Times Bible prophecy?” When I replied, “The Bible makes no indication that the U.S. is a significant player in End Times prophecy,” they responded, “Why? What happens to us?”

I was honest with them, saying I don’t know. I do believe we are living through the events Yeshua talked about in Matthew 24 as signs of the “last days” before His return. That said, I don’t know why the United States — the wealthiest and most powerful nation on the face of the earth in the history of mankind — is not ever clearly mentioned in or clearly alluded to in Bible prophecy concerning the last days. I don’t know because the Bible doesn’t tell us.

For the last several years, I have been explaining that we could be devastated by a nuclear war. We could be hit by a series of decapitating terrorist attacks. We could be hit by massive natural disasters. And/or we could face a series of economic disasters. Consider just two potential scenarios that could render the U.S. a non-factor in the last days:

Scenario #1: the U.S. could implode economically after the rapture. The rapture is an event described in I Thessalonians 4-5 when true followers of Yeshua Messiah are snatched away from the earth and meet Yeshua Messiah in the air at a time when the rest of the world has been saying there is “peace and safety.” How many Messiah-followers in the U.S. would disappear in the “twinkle of an eye,” according to the Scriptures? We don’t know for certain. It could be 10 million. It could be 25 million. It could be 50 million, 75 million, or more. The point is the rapture will have a devastating and irrecoverable impact on the U.S. in many ways. Consider, for example, how hard the American economy was hit when nearly 3,000 Americans were lost on 9/11/01. Now imagine the impact the loss of millions of Americans due to the rapture would have on the U.S. economy. You think we have a subprime mortgage crisis now? Imagine what the U.S. banking and real estate system will look like when millions of believers disappear and are no longer here to pay their mortgages, or their credit card bills, or buy other goods and services. Our economy would implode, and suddenly America would no longer be the economic superpower it has been for a century.

Scenario #2: the U.S. economy could melt down in a Great Depression before the rapture. Such a melt down would emasculate our economic and military power and thus radically reduce our influence in the world. On October 16, 2008, I wrote about “the implications of this financial apocalypse.” Things have only worsened since then. I am praying that the Lord will have mercy on us. But we cannot rule out the possibility that the Lord will remove His favor from our nation and allow us to be rocked to our core economically. Decisive action should be taken to strengthen our economy and help American businesses small and large grow and create more jobs. But the President’s hastily-crafted multi-trillion dollar spending plan will not save the day and revive our moribund economy.

Most Members of Congress didn’t even read the 1,100-plus page bill they voted in favor of, noted Sen. Frank Lautenberg, the New Jersey Democrat. The Obama administration was rushing through this massive and expensive bill without giving the people’s representatives the time to read it and consider its merits. Why? The plan is essentially European socialism and risks making our economic situation worse, not better. According to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the real price tag of the bill is actually $3.27 trillion over the next ten years. The feverishness with which the White House and Congressional leadership are running up our national debt is unnerving. They are rushing so fast to spend an unheard of amount of money without giving the people of the country much less their elected representatives the opportunity to read it, study it, debate it, much less amend it. In the process, they are piling more than $3 trillion worth of crushing new debt on top of the more than $10 trillion of debt we’re already handing over to our children.

What does the future hold? It’s almost as if we can hear the ice cracking underneath our feet. I don’t know if the Lord will allow us to plunge into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. I pray not. But humanly speaking, you and I have very little influence to stop the current course of events. So we must pray. We must to turn to the Lord and seek His mercy, His grace, His favor on our nation and our leaders, lest we see the current economic crisis take us into a financial death spiral. What’s more, we must seek the Lord in pray — even with fasting — for wisdom to know how to invest the resources He has entrusted to us to kingdom work.

Consider this excerpt from page 154 of Dead Heat : “What Bennett had never really considered carefully until now was the possibility that something else might devastate the American people, rendering them ineffective heading into the last of the last days. A financial downturn on Wall Street. The sudden collapse of the dollar. The beginning of another Great Depression. A series of devastating earthquakes. Or hurricanes. Or other natural disasters, like a tsunami. [Or ] the most cataclysmic terrorist attack of all time — five nuclear warheads. And there might be more to come. None of it was clearly prophesied in the Scriptures. Not that he could find. But perhaps he should have foreseen the neutralization of America by more carefully reading between the lines. If so, what else was he missing? What exactly was coming next?”

Last point for now: even as we process the enormity of our own economic crisis, we need to keep our eye on the global economy as well. We need to be aware of just how much suffering and geopolitical instability is being created by this global financial crisis. Russia’s stock market, for example, is down 75%. The value of the Russian currency — the ruble — is down about 30%. I believe we will see a terrible surge of anti-Semitism in Russia as a result. I believe many Russians will blame Jews for their economic troubles. They will blame America as well. The European economy, meanwhile, is experiencing the worst contraction in decades. Spain’s economy, for example, is the worst in 15 years. Whom will Europeans blame? Will they turn against Israel and the U.S.? I suspect many will.

...World leaders discussing move to single currency

“A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies, a member of the panel said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the dollar,” reports a Reuters story this morning.

“Currency specialist Avinash Persaud, a member of the panel of experts, told a Reuters Funds Summit in Luxembourg that the proposal was to create something like the old ECU, or European Currency Unit, that was a hard-traded, weighted basket. Persaud, chairman of consultants Intelligence Capital and a former currency chief at JPMorgan, said the recommendation would be one of a number delivered to the United Nations on March 25 by the U.N. Commission of Experts on International Financial Reform. ‘It is a good moment to move to a shared reserve currency,’ he said.”

The story comes just a day after the Moscow Times reported that Russian leaders are coming to the G20 summit of world leaders in London on April 2nd prepared to call for moving to a new single common currency. The leaders of Iran, Libya and Kazakhstan have also begun speaking about creating single currencies within their regions — the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia, respectively. The IMF, Asian Development Bank and other international and regional financial institutions in recent years have been studying how to move to a single currency as well. The “Euro” is the model many are looking to, in part because 20% of the world’s foreign exchange reserves are already held in euros.

These are curious developments given that scholars of Bible prophecy have long noted that according to the Scriptures, in the "last days" the world will see the emergence of an entirely new international financial architecture, complete with a single common global currency created and mandated by the leaders of Europe. The Bible indicates that eventually no one on earth will be able to engage in commerce without "buying in" to the new cashless system. The prophecy is found in Revelation 13:16-17, which reads: "And he [the world leader that emerges from a revived Europe] causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one can buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name."

Cynics and skeptics have long dismissed such talk as the province of "religious nuts" and "prophecy buffs." But the discussion is now being advanced by major world leaders. It's too soon to say where this will all lead, but these are certainly developments worth watching.

The following article points to possible reasons why America is not found in the Bible as a world power in the "last days".

By Joel C. Rosenberg

“It’s almost as if you can hear the ice cracking beneath our feet”

People often ask me, “Where is the United States in End Times Bible prophecy?” When I reply, “The Bible makes no indication that the U.S. is a significant player in prophecy,” they respond, “Why? What happens to us?”

To be honest, I don’t know.

While I do believe we are living through the events Yeshua talked about in Matthew 24 as signs of the “last days” before His return, I don’t know why the United States — the wealthiest and most powerful nation on the face of the earth in the history of mankind — is not ever clearly mentioned in Bible prophecy concerning the last days. I don’t know because the Bible doesn’t tell us.

We could, God forbid, be devastated by a nuclear war. We could be hit by decapitating terrorist attacks. We could be hit by massive natural disasters. Or we could face a series of economic disasters. Consider just two potential scenarios that could render the U.S. a non-factor in the last days:

Scenario #1: the U.S. could implode economically after the rapture.

The rapture is an event described in I Thessalonians 4-5 when true followers of Yeshua Messiah are snatched away from the earth and meet Yeshua Messiah in the air at a time when the rest of the world has been saying there is “peace and safety.” How many Messiah-followers in the U.S. would disappear in the “twinkle of an eye,” according to the Scriptures? We don’t know for certain. It could be 10 million. It could be 25 million. It could be 50 million, 75 million, or more. The point is the rapture will have a devastating and irrecoverable impact on the U.S. in many ways. Consider, for example, how hard the American economy was hit when nearly 3,000 Americans were lost on 9/11/01. Now imagine the impact the loss of millions of Americans due to the rapture would have on the U.S. economy. Think we have a subprime mortgage crisis now? Imagine what the U.S. banking and real estate system will look like when millions of believers disappear and can no longer pay their mortgages, or their credit card bills, or buy other goods and services. Our economy would implode, and suddenly America would no longer be the economic superpower it has been for a century.

Scenario #2: the U.S. economy could melt down in a Great Depression before the rapture.

Such a melt down would emasculate our economic and military power and thus radically reduce our influence in the world. On October 16, 2008, I wrote about “the implications of this financial apocalypse.” Things have only worsened since then. I am praying that the Lord would have mercy on us. But we cannot rule out the possibility that the Lord will remove His favor from our nation and allow us to be rocked to our core economically. Decisive action should be taken to strengthen our economy and help American businesses small and large grow and create more jobs. But the President’s hastily-crafted multi-trillion dollar spending plan will not save the day and revive our moribund economy.

Most Members of Congress haven’t even read the 1,100-plus page bill they are voting in favor of, says Sen. Frank Lautenberg, the New Jersey Democrat. The Obama administration is rushing through this massive and expensive bill without giving the people’s representatives the time to read it and consider its merits. Why? The whole thing smacks of European socialism and risks making our economic situation worse, not better. According to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the real price tag of the bill is actually $3.27 trillion over the next ten years. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina has offered an alternative plan that creates twice as many jobs for half the price of the Obama plan. Why is Congress not allowing a full and fair debate about The American Option Act? Why do most Americans not even know about this alternative? The feverishness with which the White House and Congressional leadership are acting is unnerving. They are rushing so fast to spend an unheard of amount of money without giving the people of the country much less their elected representatives the opportunity to read it, study it, debate it, much less amend it. In the process, they risks piling more than $3 trillion worth of crushing new debt on top of the more than $10 trillion of debt we’re already handing over to our children.

What does the future hold? It’s almost as if we can hear the ice cracking underneath our feet. I don’t know if the Lord will allow us to plunge into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. But humanly speaking, you and I have very little influence to stop the current course of events. So we must pray. We must turn to the Lord and seek His mercy, His grace, His favor on our nation and our leaders, lest we see the current economic crisis take us into a financial death spiral.

In my last political thriller, Dead Heat , I wrote on p. 154:

What Bennett had never really considered carefully until now was the possibility that something else might devastate the American people, rendering them ineffective heading into the last of the last days. A financial downturn on Wall Street. The sudden collapse of the dollar. The beginning of another Great Depression. A series of devastating earthquakes. Or hurricanes. Or other natural disasters, like a tsunami. [Or ] the most cataclysmic terrorist attack of all time — five nuclear warheads. And there might be more to come. None of it was clearly prophesied in the Scriptures. Not that he could find. But perhaps he should have foreseen the neutralization of America by more carefully reading between the lines. If so, what else was he missing? What exactly was coming next?

At the same time, we need to keep our eye on the global economy as well. We need to be aware of just how much suffering and geopolitical instability is being created by this global financial crisis. Russia’s stock market, for example, is down 75%. The value of the Russian currency — the ruble — is down about 30%. Will we see anti-Semitism surge as a result? Will Russians blames Jews for their economic troubles? Will they blame America as well? The European economy, meanwhile, is experiencing the worst contraction in decades. Spain’s economy, for example, is the worst in 15 years. Whom will Europeans blame? Are Europeans likely to draw closer to Israel? To the U.S.? If the global economy continues to sink, expect more tensions with Europe and expect Europe to turn against Israel in sharper and more painful ways.

The Bible says that the generation that sees the rebirth of the State of Israel will be the last generation. This article discusses this further.

The Last Generation by J. Michael Hile

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We know from the Scriptures that the first generation began with Adam and Eve.  Noah was the tenth generation.  Which generation do we represent?   And, which generation of people was Messiah talking about that would see His return when He said:  "…This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (Mt  24:34)?  The answer to this elusive, 2000-year-old question may be closer than we think, if the many prophecies we see converging on the horizon continue their march towards fulfillment in the 21st century. 

The Generation of  His Coming

Perhaps the most intriguing and controversial prophetic Scripture passage found in the Bible is contained in the Olivet Discourse.  This dynamic "end times" message by Yeshua, contained in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21, describes major events that will impact the Jewish people just before the Lord returns to set up His Kingdom.

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory…Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.   -Matthew 24:30-36

This remarkable prophecy of future events, given by Yeshua on Mount Olivet after leaving the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, was in response to three questions from His disciples:  "When shall these things be?  And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world" (Mt 24:3)?  The generation that will be living on the earth when Messiah returns is alluded to in this discourse.  The belief that the generation Yeshua was talking about was the generation that passed away in 70 A.D. does not fit within the context of a literal return of Messiah back to earth, as described in the Scriptures preceding and following the parable of the fig tree.  Two questions one might raise about this unique generation and other generations described in the Bible are: 1) How long is a generation?  and 2) Which generation was Messiah talking about?

The Generation Question

One of the most perplexing and sought-after answers among students of Bible prophecy is the length of a generation.  There is much disagreement among both secular and religious writers concerning the length of a generation.  Is the length of a generation 40 years?  When Israel became a nation in 1948, some believed that Israel's birth date marked the beginning of the generation that would see all the events leading up to the Second Coming of Messiah. This theory was based upon the generation alluded to in the parable of the fig tree, in which the fig tree was symbolic of the nation Israel. (For a more detailed study of the fig tree in Biblical history, see Judg 9:8-15; Jer 24:1-10; Lk 13:6-9; Mt 21:17-21; Mk 11:11-14, 20-21; Lk 19:41-44; Rom 11:1,2,25-27; Isa 66:8; Mt 24:32-51; Mk 13:28-37; Lk 21:29-36; and Rev 6:13.)

When 40 years passed in 1988 without fulfillment of any of the events surrounding the Second Coming of Messiah, the 40-year generation theory fell into disrepute.  Either 1948 was not the starting date for the generation described in the fig tree parable, or a generation must be longer than 40 years, according to the theory.  Additional arguments put forth claimed that 1967, the year Jerusalem was captured, or some other future date could be the birth of the generation that would see the return of Messiah. 

Some proponents of the "end times" generation theory questioned whether 40 years was actually the length of a generation today.  Is there any evidence to suggest that the length of a generation is longer than 40 years?  A few sources hold that a generation is now 20 to 30 years in length (but this better represents a generation "gap").  Other opinions range from 40 to 100 years.  Just how long is a generation today?  Is there an answer to the generation question? 

The Longevity of Mankind

A generation, as described in the Bible, begins at conception and ends at death (Gen 17:6-9; Ps 22:30; Jer 1:4,5; Act 13:36; Josh 24:29-31). The length of a generation is not an arbitrary period of time that occurs within the life span of an individual or group of people.  Joshua's age at the time of death, 110 years  (including 9 months gestation), was the length of the generation he represented.  Some of his generation died before him and some after him.  Consequently, the average life span of a group of people living at about the same time constitutes the length of that generation. 

The length of a generation has not always been constant since the days of Adam and Eve.  Before the Biblical flood, the average life span of man was over 900 years.  Today, if a person lives to be a hundred years old, it is a special occasion in which the person is accorded celebrity status.  In order to understand how long a generation is today, it will be helpful to know what the length of a generation was before the Flood and what happened to the life span of man immediately following the Flood. Has man's life span increased, decreased or stayed the same down through the centuries? 

[This chart]¹ shows that the average length of a generation was about 930 years for those living before the Flood but decreased to around 120 years by the time Moses crossed the Red Sea and ended his 40-year sojourn in the wilderness of Sinai.  Since there are not very many 120-year-old individuals walking around today, it is apparent that the average life span is no longer 120 years.  Eli, a High Priest and Judge of Israel whose life bridged the 13th and 12th centuries B.C., died at the age of 98 years (1 Sam 4:15).  According to the Scriptures, he was considered to be a "very old" person at the time of his death (1 Sam 2:22).

The Wilderness Generation

Perhaps the most widely held belief for the length of a generation is forty years.  A 40-year period was required for the disobedient generation of Moses' day to die off in the wilderness.  Those who hold to the forty-year generation concept do not take into account the total age of those who had sinned against the Lord.  The curse was to be against the men who had reached twenty years of age  (Num 32:11-13, Ps 95:8-11, Heb 3:7-11). After the 40-year judgment period was completed, there were no men left older than 60 years of age except Joshua and Caleb.  Although Joshua was not a descendant of Moses or Aaron, he represented the succeeding generation that was to enter the "Promised Land."  Joshua and Caleb were the only two males permitted to live after the Lord cursed the rebellious generation that would not return and retake their land in Canaan.  So forty years could not have been the length of that generation, but it was the time God allotted for that generation to die off.  Most of the recorded life spans during this time were well over 40 years.  Aaron was 123, Moses 120, Joshua 110, and Caleb was over 85 when their generations died off.

A View from the Psalmist

Disregarding untimely or unnatural deaths due to epidemics, famine, and war, there is evidence in the Scriptures and in recent history to support a 70 to 80 year life span for the past 3000 years.  The evidence for a 70 to 80 year life span was present during the 10th century B.C., during the reign of King David (c.1010-970). As David approached the end of his life, he was considered to be an old man by those living at that time. The Scriptures reveal that David served his generation and was seventy years old when he died (1 Chr 23:1; 2 Sam 5:4; 1 Kgs 2:10; Act 13:36). Perhaps the most significant declaration in the Bible for the life span of man is given in Psalm 90. The Psalmist states that the life span of man is seventy years, with eighty years being the upper range of normal life expectancy. 

For all our days are passed away in thy wrath:  We spend our years as a tale that is told.  The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away. -Psalm 90:9,10

If 70 to 80 years still represents the length of a generation, as described in Psalm 90:9,10, one would expect the life span of those living today to be close to that figure. The life expectancy of those living in the United States in 1850 was less than 40 years but increased to 47 years by 1900 and then mushroomed to 77 years (1999) by the end of the 20th century. According to the 2002 World Almanac and Book of Facts, the average life expectancy in the United States is 77 years (74 years for males and 80 years for females).  For Israel it is 79 years (77 years for males and 81 years for females).  The average life expectancy at birth for Israel is projected to be 82 in the year 2025.

Which Generation was Messiah Talking About?

With Israel back in their land after almost 2000 years of dispersion (the Diaspora) and other end time prophecies coming into focus, the Jewish people now living in Israel could very well be the generation Messiah was talking about.  Luke's version of the fig tree parable, which mentions the fig tree (Israel) and all the trees (nations of the world-see Judg 9:8-20; Dan 4:26; Ps 2:1-12; Mt 25:31,32), states: 

And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.  So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you.  This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.  Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.  -Luke 21:29-33 

If the length of David's generation, Messiah's generation, and the average life span of those living today in Israel is between 70 and 80 years (a 3000-year span), it would be reasonable to conclude that the generation Messiah was talking about in the parable of the fig tree will also be 70 to 80 years in length. If the fig tree in this parable represents the nation of Israel, as many prophetic scholars believe, and the generation that is described has a life span of 70 to 80 years, then recent events such as the rebirth of Israel as a nation (Isa 66:8), the Jerusalem controversy in the "end times" (Zech 12:1-3), preparations for rebuilding the Jewish Temple (Rev 11:1,2), and the ongoing negotiations for a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians (Dan 9:27) are strong indicators that the generation Messiah was talking about has already been born, and the return of Yeshua Messiah to establish His reign for a thousand years is close at hand. 

The Most Significant End Time Prophecy

The "end time" events described in the Olivet Discourse and the book of Revelation could not take place without Israel back in their land.  Israel's return to the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the 20th century is the most important event that signals the soon return of Yeshua Messiah. 

...I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime...And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for  ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. -II Samuel 7:10-16

Israel's rebirth as a nation has also served as a catalyst for other "end time" prophecies that are beginning to converge on the world scene (Dan 2:42-22; Ezek 38-39). The Apostle Paul told us "...that in the last days perilous times shall come" (2 Tim 3:1-7).  Yeshua said there would be a time of worldwide conflict and wars that would be "the beginning of sorrows" (Mt 24:8).  Messiah said, "except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved…" (Mk 13:20). 

The ability of man to destroy all flesh on the earth became a real possibility for the first time in the history of the world during the second half of the 20th century with the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. The 21st century will witness an unprecedented increase in surveillance and eavesdropping as the global government "big brother" system wraps its tentacles around every aspect of human life, while promising "peace and security" to those who relinquish their freedoms (Rev 13:16-18; 1Thess 5: 3).  

Believers who take the Bible seriously should be actively watching the prophetic shadows that are appearing in today's headlines.  And as we entertain the possibility that we may be the generation Yeshua was talking about in the fig tree parable nearly 2000 years ago, we are admonished by the Scriptures to watch and be prepared (Mt 24: 37-51). 

As stated clearly by Yeshua in Matthew and Mark, no man knows the day or the hour of his coming, but the Father only.  The same Yeshua, however, was very angry with the Pharisees and Scribes for not discerning  "the signs of the times" (Mt 16:3) and not knowing the "time of their visitation" (Lk 19:44).

One day there will be a generation of believers that will escape the grip of death and be ushered into Heaven, the "final frontier" for believers (1 Thess 4:13-5:11). The generation that is "left behind" will face the ruthless tyranny of a global dictatorship (Rev 13:11-18). The world stage is now being set for the closing act of this dispensation, and the climax of world history (Messiah's return) is drawing near. As God's children, we may very well be the generation that is chosen to "escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Lk 21:34-36). That possibility is certainly worth pondering!

The Bible specifically says that Babylon will be rebuilt in the "Last Days"... Another prophecy coming true right before our eyes.

By Joel C. Rosenberg

What Does The Bible Say About The Two-State Solution For Israel?

Jeremiah to today's Israel: No 2-state solution! Prophecy News Watch

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Presently, there is an unprecedented push for peace in the Mideast. President Obama, Pope Benedict XVI, along with a significant host of other powerful world leaders, clamor once and for all for a two-state solution. They have heightened concern that the writing is on the 403-mile wall currently protecting Israeli's from Palestinian terror that a Middle East war is imminent. 

As the clock rapidly ticks toward what will likely be the prophetic Psalm 83 showdown, Israel circles the wagons in preparation for a multi-front confederate conflict with its ancient enemies, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu loosens his grip from the thorny Obama olive branch of "Engagement." 

Currently, the international prescription for two states comprised of Jews and Palestinians living autonomously and peacefully side by side requires Israel to destroy outposts, freeze settlements, forfeit land acquired after 1967, divide Jerusalem and allow Palestinian refugees to homestead the Holy Land. These refugees number in the millions, cannot obtain citizenship in the surrounding Arab nations and represent a second-generation population that hates and blames the Jews for their impoverished existence. The ploy of Israel's enemies has been to banner the plight of these Palestinians as the justification for Islamic jihad against Israel and her supporters. 

It is quite apparent that the world has become empathetic to the Palestinian plight but apathetic to God's foreign policy contained in Genesis 12:3 and the one-state solution prescribed in Jeremiah 12:14-17. Genesis 12:3 bestows blessings upon those that bless the Israeli descendants of Abraham but conversely must curse those populations that oppose them. Jeremiah 12:15-17 follows stride by declaring that God would have compassion on the pro-Israel populations, but "will utterly pluck up and destroy" Israel's neighbors who fail to operate in compliance with God's roadmap for peace. 

God's peace plan 

The Bible foretold in Isaiah 11:11, Ezekiel 37:12, Deuteronomy 30:3-5 and elsewhere of a time when the Jews would be brought back into the Promised Land from the nations of the world. This regathering began 61 years ago on May 14, 1948, and is ongoing today. Possessing omniscient foresight, God foreknew that an Arab-Israeli conflict would erupt as a result. 

Jeremiah 12:14-17 tells us that as the time drew near for the return of the Jews into Israel the landscape of the Middle East would undergo a geopolitical facelift as God intended to restore Arabs, Persians and Jews back into the historical homes of their ancestral heritages. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1917, we see this turn of geopolitical events take place as one by one the Arab, Persian and Jewish states emerged. 

Afghanistan 1919
Egypt 1922
Saudi Arabia & Iraq 1932
Iran 1935
Lebanon 1943
Syria & Jordan 1946
Israel 1948

Jeremiah's passages make it clear that God would import the Jews into Israel and export the Arabs and Persians out of Israel when the time came for the implementation of God's one-state solution. Jeremiah 12:14 refers to the Arab and Persian populations as "My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit," alluding to the Promised Land given to the Jewish Patriarch Abraham in Genesis 15:18. As stated prior, God intended to have compassion on those populations that would operate in compliance with His divine plan. 

As I point out in my book, "Isralestine the Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East," many predominately Islamic populations will fail to comply. These nations and/or terrorist entities are described in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38 and include but are not limited to: Palestinians, Syrians, Hezbollah, Hamas, Iranians, Lebanese, Jordanians, Saudis, Egyptians, Libyans and Turks. 

The Saudi peace plan 

For even your brothers, the house of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously with you; Yes, they have called a multitude after you. Do not believe them, Even though they speak smooth words to you. (Jeremiah 12:6; NKJV)

In the above passage Jeremiah appears to issue a stern warning to the modern-day state of Israel not to believe the smooth words of the descendants of their ancestral brothers. Without going into a detailed Bible study, the abbreviated interpretation is likely as follows: 

Tents of Edom - Palestinians, Southern Jordan
Ishmaelites - Saudi Arabia (Ishmael Father of Arabs)
Moab - Palestinians, Central Jordan
Hagrites - Hagarenes - Egyptians
Gebal - Hezbollah, Lebannon
Ammon - Palestinians, Jordan
Philistia - Hamas, Gaza Strip
Amalek - Arabs of Siani
Tyre - Lebannon, Hezbollah
Assyria - Syria, Northern Iraq

The subjects of the prophecy for the most part are the Jews, Saudis and Palestinians. The "brothers" of the Jews from the "house of" their Hebrew fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were Ishmael and Esau. Ishmael was the half brother of Isaac, and Esau was the twin brother of Jacob. Jacob was renamed Israel in Genesis 32:28, and Esau was also referred to as Edom in Genesis 36:1, 9. Both Ishmael in Genesis 21:18 and Esau in Genesis 25:23 were promised to father nations. Ishmael is generally associated today with Saudi Arabia, and Esau with the Palestinians. 

The "multitude" formed by the "brothers" Ishmael and Edom is most likely the confederacy tabled below contained in Psalm 83 that ultimately seeks to destroy the modern-day Jewish state, "that the name Israel be remembered no more" (Psalm 83:4). 

The "smooth words" are deceptive and the Jews are cautioned not to trust them. They are likely penned in the Saudi Mideast peace plan initiated at the Beirut Summit of the Arab League in March of 2002. This Saudi peace initiative calls for a two-state solution that embraces and strongly favors the Palestinian plight. In a nutshell it requires Israel to withdraw from the territories acquired in the aftermath of the "Six-Day" war in June of 1967 to provide for the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Furthermore, it calls for the return of millions of Palestinian refugees into Israel. In return, Arab states, like those listed in Psalm 83, would establish normal relations with Israel. 

Sounds pretty smooth on the surface, but in application it puts Israel in harm's way. Surrendering land like the Golan Heights would compromise Israel's security from external attacks, and assimilating refugees who hate Israel would subject the Jewish state to terrorism and turmoil from within. The bottom line is that the Arabs don't want peace with the Jews; they want another Arab state called Palestine and they feel the only way to ultimately achieve this goal is to destroy modern-day Israel. The Saudi two-state solution puts the enemies of Israel one step closer to the kill. 

Jeremiah appears to be warning his descendant Jewish brothers and sisters of today to Say NO to the Saudi two-state solution! 

God says in the Bible that He will bless those that bless Israel and curse those that curse her. Here are recent events that show just how literally He keeps His word.

Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences
of Dividing Israel -- 2008

 

Major events that coincided with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to Israel

Record-setting events that corresponded with President George W. Bush and/or Secretary of State Rice's peace efforts in 2008

• The U.S. tornado season began in early January at the time of Bush’s preparation for his trip to Israel and during his visit to Israel. In the year 2008 there was a total of 2,127 tornadoes through November (NOAA), the most-ever recorded in one year.

• One of the largest floods in U.S. history (a 500-year flood) and the largest and costliest flood since 1993 occurred in the month of June.

• Southern California experienced an earthquake near Chino Hills on July 29, the largest since the 1994 Northridge earthquake (while U.S. President Bill Clinton and Syrian President Hafez Assad were meeting in Geneva on the Golan Heights).

• The 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season produced a record number of consecutive storms to strike the United States and ranks as one of the more active seasons in the 64 years since comprehensive records began. Overall, the season is tied as the fourth most active in terms of named storms (16) and major hurricanes (five), and is tied as the fifth most active in terms of hurricanes (eight) since 1944, which was the first year aircraft missions flew into tropical storms and hurricanes. For the first time on record, six consecutive tropical cyclones (Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike) made landfall on the U.S. mainland.

• Hurricane Dolly slammed into South Texas on July 23, the day Barack Obama was in Jerusalem committing to a Palestinian state and the splitting of Jerusalem (according to the Palestinians).

• Hurricanes Gustav and Ike developed into two of the costliest multi-billion-dollar, record-breaking hurricanes in U.S. history. Gustav began on Aug. 24 and came ashore on Sept. 2. Ike began on Sept. 1 and came ashore on Sept. 13.

• The highest crude oil prices in history occurred when crude oil topped $148 per barrel in mid-July.

• Amid the worst financial crisis in nearly a century, the widely-watched S&P 500 lost more than 50 percent of its value since hitting all-time highs just over a year ago.

• Two of the largest Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) drops in history occurred on Sept. 29, the eve of Rosh Hashanah when the Dow dropped 777.68 points (the Dow's largest single-day point drop in history). Stocks were also extremely choppy and volatile on Oct. 9, the eve of Yom Kippur when the Dow dropped 678.91 points.

• The U.S. government approved a $700 billion bailout of the U.S. financial system.

• There was a loss of $10 trillion in U.S. stock market capitalization in 2008.

• The U.S. Federal Reserve committed $2.12 trillion in 2008 to prop up the U.S. banking system, and it may reach $3 trillion. The U.S. government is prepared to provide more than $7.76 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers after guaranteeing $306 billion of Citigroup Inc.

• Condoleezza Rice's 24th trip to Israel and the Middle East on Nov. 6-9 did not produce a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

• The worldwide stock markets have lost an estimated one-third of their stock market capitalization, totaling $28 trillion.

Major catastrophes and events that occurred in 2008 that corresponded with Bush Administration efforts to divide the land of Israel

Jan. 4-5 Bush had multiple interviews with Israel and Middle East news services prior to his trip. He declared his commitment to Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security. There were hurricane force winds in California and Nevada. Two million households and businesses lost their power due to the winds. Floods in Nevada. Jan. 8 Bush left for Israel. A tornado hit Jerusalem, Arkansas, that morning. The Midwest experienced 38 tornadoes from Jan. 7-11. Jan. 9-11 Bush and Rice were in Israel to meet with the Israelis and the Palestinians.

• Jan. 10: Major fog in Jerusalem and Ramallah on the morning of the Bush-Abbas meeting. Bush forced to take 34-car caravan to Ramallah instead of flying on Marine One. The skies cleared immediately after their meeting and prior to Bush's trip to Bethlehem.

• President Bush later declared a major FEMA disaster for Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska for the period from Jan. 7-11.

Jan. 11-16 Bush and Rice traveled to Kuwait City, Kuwait; Manama, Bahrain; Abu Dhabi and Dubai, UAE; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to talk about the status of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the Iranian threat.

During this part of the Middle East trip, there were record low temperatures and rain during the red carpet welcoming ceremonies.

Baghdad, Iraq, which is a short distance north of Kuwait, experienced its first snow in 100 years. During Bush's few-hours visit in Dubai, they experienced flooding due to record rain on that day. Riyadh had snow flurries and temperatures in the 20s, which followed summer-like temperatures the week before. There was also a major blizzard in the northeast U.S., record cold temperatures, record crude oil prices, and the approval of a $154 billion U.S. economic stimulus bill shortly after the president's return to the U.S.

• Rising fears about credit markets and the health of U.S. financial institutions drive down stock prices. Between Jan. 1-22, the Dow lost over 1,000 points -- more than 8 percent of its total value.

Mar. 3-7 Rice in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinians territories. President Bush met with Jordan's King Abdullah II Tuesday at the White House about the ongoing peace efforts in the time remaining before he leaves office. Bush said that the United States is engaged and will remain engaged in helping convince the prime minister of Israel and President Abbas that now is the time to formulate a vision of what a state will look like.

• The credit collapse of 2008 explained by Martin Weiss, Ph. D., who wrote:

The credit collapse is a sudden surge in debt defaults by borrowers ... and an equally sudden disappearance of new loans by lenders. It's an unprecedented surge in home foreclosures ... and an equally unprecedented cutback in new home mortgages.

It's causing unexpected corporate bankruptcies ... plus equally unexpected demands by banks to put up more collateral. It's threatening to sink businesses, paralyze local governments, and gut the investment portfolios of millions of Americans.

It's even starting to sabotage the best laid plans of government -- neutralizing the Fed's interest rate cuts ... pre-empting Congress' economic stimulus plan ... and threatening to strip Washington of its traditional powers to fight a recession.

• Spot gold nears $1,000 level broken by futures: Spot gold was hovering just below the $1,000-an-ounce barrier broken on the futures market overnight after the dollar hit another record low against the euro, boosting the metal's appeal as an alternative investment.

• Dollar plunged against euro, yen and franc as fed plan disappointed (Bloomberg)

• The dollar fell to a record -- below $1.55 per euro -- as firms from Citigroup Inc. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the Federal Reserve's plan to inject $200 billion into the banking system may fail to break the freeze in money-market lending.

• The dollar set a record low for the tenth trading day in 12. It has lost 3.6 percent since Feb. 26, when Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn said credit market turmoil and slower growth pose a "greater threat'' than inflation. The comments drove the euro above $1.50 for the first time.

• Fed took boldest action since the Depression to rescue the U.S. mortgage industry.

Mar. 22–24 U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney visited Israelis and the Palestinians. He said peace is not likely as long as Hamas and Hezbollah exist. The United States' commitment to Israel's security is "enduring and unshakeable," Cheney added, "as is our commitment to Israel's right to defend itself, always, against terrorists, rocket attacks and other threats from forces dedicated to Israel's destruction." The Jerusalem Post wrote that for his part, Cheney -- who's one of the Bush Administration's security hard-liners -- suggested that responding to threats on Israel could become a bigger priority. The Bush Administration is particularly worried about Iran's efforts to enrich uranium that could be used as fuel for nuclear weapons. "As we continue to work for peace, we must not and will not ignore the darkening shadows of the situations in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Syria and in Iran, and the forces there that are working to derail the hopes of the world," Cheney said.

Mar. 28-31 Rice traveled to Jerusalem and Jordan. She met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to support their ongoing bilateral dialogue and the serious effort underway to achieve agreement this year on the establishment of a Palestinian state, living side by side with Israel in peace and security. The secretary discussed efforts to improve conditions on the ground and to advance Palestinian economic development and capacity building. Additionally, she met with King Abdullah to discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, the political situation in Lebanon, stability in Iraq and other regional developments.

• On Monday, Mar. 31, the Bush Administration -- dealing with an enormous financial crisis -- proposed a sweeping overhaul of the way the government regulates the nation's financial services industry from banks and securities firms to mortgage brokers and insurance companies.

• The plan would give major new powers to the Federal Reserve. The Fed would be given broad authority to oversee financial market stability. That would include new powers to examine the books of any institution deemed to represent a potential threat to the proper functioning of the overall financial system.

• President Bush's Housing and Urban Development secretary (and good friend from Dallas), Alphonso Jackson, quit amid a criminal investigation.

May 1-5 Rice in UK, Israel and the West Bank - no apparent corresponding event or catastrophe

May 13-18 Bush/Rice in Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia - no apparent corresponding event or catastrophe

June 3-4 Bush, Olmert and Rice met in Washington. Record floods occurred in the midwestern U.S., the largest floods since the summer of 1993 (the summer the Oslo treaty was negotiated).

• During the Bush-Olmert meeting in the Oval Office at the White House, a violent storm with winds in the 55 mph range with gusts up to 70 mph hit the Washington, D.C., area and the White House. At the very moment Olmert was leaving the West Wing of the White House, the White House press and photographers were forced to run quickly to the press room for cover because of high winds, lightning and pouring rain.

Olmert was under the covering of the porte-cochere at the West Wing entrance and got into his limousine quickly due to the horizontal rains and very strong winds. Up to 500,000 residences and businesses were without power. It was projected that some areas of Washington could remain without power for 24 to 48 hours.

June 11-17 Rice in Paris, Jerusalem and Ramallah, and in Israel during the continuation of record floods in the midwestern U.S.

July 23-24 Barack Obama visited the Israelis in Jerusalem and the Palestinians in Ramallah where he declared his support for a Palestinian state and the dividing of Jerusalem -- the same day Hurricane Dolly slammed into the south Texas coast and moved inland. Dolly roared into south Texas with 100 mph winds on July 23, dumping a foot of rain near the Texas-Mexico border. The storm did extensive damage on South Padre Island and left more than 100,000 homes without power.

July 29 Rice met at the State Department with Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the Chief Palestinian Negotiator Ahmed Queri. An earthquake shook Southern California -- the largest since Jan. 17, 1994 (when Bill Clinton was with Syria's Assad)

Aug. 15 David Welch, assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, was in Israel. Under Rice's directions, he was secretly working on a final draft of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal as Tropical Storm Fay formed Aug. 15 -- eventually hitting and exiting Florida a record-setting four different times from Aug. 18-24.

Aug. 24-25 Rice was in Jerusalem pressing Israel to sign a document by the end of the year that would divide Jerusalem by offering the Palestinians a stake in Israel's capital city as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to top diplomatic sources involved in the talks.

• The day Rice arrived in Jerusalem, a tropical depression began and quickly developed into Hurricane Gustav.

• Around 1.5 million people were without power in Louisiana on Sept. 1. The state reported about 100,000 people remained on the coast after evacuation. Nearly 2 million people had evacuated from south Louisiana in the days before Gustav's arrival.

• On Aug. 30, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney canceled their planned attendance at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Because of the expected U.S. landfall, governors and some other political leaders from Louisiana and other states chose to stay home from the 2008 Republican National Convention. As the hurricane approached the coast, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain canceled all non-essential opening-day festivities at the convention and said that he might give his acceptance speech via satellite from the affected area.

• A catastrophic risk management company says private insurers could face damages from Hurricane Gustav ranging between $4 billion and $10 billion.

Newark, California-based Risk Management Solutions said on Sept. 2 that the estimate included damage to the offshore petroleum industry and damage from wind and storm surge. The estimate did not include potential levee damage or post-Gustav flooding from heavy rainfall that was forecast for the rest of the week. The company said damage to the offshore petroleum industry could range from $1 billion to $3 billion. Insured losses to homes and businesses were estimated from $3 billion to $7 billion. Those estimates did not include liability facing the federal flood insurance program

Sept. 1 Rice was negotiating an agreement that would obligate the Bush Administration and future U.S. administrations to a Palestinian state. Hurricane Ike formed on Sept. 1.

• On Sept. 13, Ike turned at the last minute and missed a direct hit on Galveston, the Houston ship canal and 25 percent of the United States' oil refineries, but it did slam into Galveston and parts of Houston. Jeff Masters, director of Weather Underground, a private commercial forecasting service, noted that the cost of Ike's rampage along the Gulf Coast could reach $22 billion, which would make it the third costliest hurricane on record behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Flood damage could add another $20 billion-plus to the U.S federal government.

Risk Management Solutions (RMS) on Oct. 24 announced that it had updated its estimate for U.S. onshore and offshore insured losses from Hurricane Ike to $13 billion to $21 billion, of which $10 billion to $15 billion was estimated for wind and storm surge in Texas and Louisiana. The estimate also included $2 billion to $3 billion from inland wind and flood losses and $1 billion to $3 billion in offshore losses, but did not include losses covered by the National Flood Insurance Program.

Damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike in Ohio could hit $500 million or higher, making it one of the state's costliest natural disasters. The Ohio Insurance Institute said $500 million was a preliminary figure, and it could go higher. The Sept. 14 storm knocked out electrical service for 2.6 million customers in Ohio. Wind reaching 78 mph swept across the region, and at least seven of the 56 deaths blamed on Hurricane Ike -- from Texas to Pennsylvania -- were in Ohio.

• Sept. 14 In one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street's history, Merrill Lynch agreed to sell itself to Bank of America for roughly $50 billion to avert a deepening financial crisis, while another prominent securities firm, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy protection and hurtled toward liquidation after it failed to find a buyer.

• Sept. 15 Lehman Brothers investment bank declared $600 billion bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch acquired by Bank of America.

• Sept. 17 U.S bailed out AIG insurance giant for $85 billion.

• Sept. 19 White House requested $700 billion ba