In Revelation 11:8 we are told that Jerusalem will be like Sodom and Egypt in these last days; a bastion of immorality and false worship. The three types of people presented in Matthew 2 will be found once more in Jerusalem in these last days. Just as before they will be considering the prophecies which reveal the coming of the Messiah. There will be the blessed ones who will be expectantly waiting with exceedingly great joy while the vast majority will be tormented by the fear or filled with contempt towards the Messianic hope. The latter are those who either discount the possible literal fulfillment of God's prophecies found in the Scriptures or believe they have the power to manipulate them to further their own ambitions. They aknowledge the Scriptures, but reject the absolute authority of God.

Leading this perishing throng we have the coming Anti-Christ and false prophet. These two will attempt to use their knowledge of Bible prophecy to prevent the second coming of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:11-21). The Scripture reference we have cited makes it known beyond a shadow of a doubt their incredibly vain and irrational efforts will fail. Christ's love for Jerusalem goes far beyond the temporal limitation of mankind's earthly perspectives and is intertwined with the eternal, heavenly Jerusalem of the Almighty. The sure word of Bible prophecy (2 Peter 1:19) declares Christ will return to Israel to expose and overthrow the utter foolishness of men who are trying to establish a bastion of anti-Christ worship in Jerusalem.

Quoting from Revelation 21:10-18 we read, "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a Jasper clear as crystal. #268

Just as Babylon has come to symbolize the city of Satan so then does earthly Jerusalem symbolize the chosen place of God (1)

In verses 1 and 8 of chapter 3 of the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes we read, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." (2)

As of June 07, 2001 the nation of Israel will have had its capital city of Jerusalem restored to its possession for a total of 33 years. The prophetic words of God found in the Holy Bible reveal that Israel's kinship to Jerusalem will continue to be strengthened in these last days and will ultimately become the greatest contested piece of real estate the world has ever known.

During the final seven years before the return of Jesus Christ we are told in chapter 11 of the Book of Revelation that God will send two prophets to evaluate their rebuilt Jewish Temple and those who worship therein. After 3 1/2 years, the two prophets will be killed and their bodies will be left lying on the streets of Jerusalem. After 3 1/2 days the world will witness, at Jerusalem, the resurrection and ascension to heaven of these two prophets of God.

An article in the May 18, 2001 issue of the Jerusalem Post headlined "Israel weighs on the world," demonstrates the ongoing preparation of the world's media to be witness to the day of the Lord when it stated, "So many things happen in so many places, but Israel - about the size of New Jersey - is third in the world media presence behind Washington and Moscow. The Government Press Office says 600 permanent foreign journalists are registered - one for every 10,000 Israelis augmented by dozens or hundreds more on temporary assignments during particular events."

Although the issue of dividing Jerusalem has temporarily been obscured by expanding violence and hateful rhetoric, it needs to be recognized why this problem can never be resolved. On the earthly level one needs to keep in mind that as long as Israel controls Jerusalem, or even exists as a nation and at all for that matter, every believer in Islam must wrestle with the fact that the Moslem holy book, the Koran, is in error and therefore cannot contain the true words of God. The teachings of the Koran cannot be true if Israel continues to exist on and control what is believed to be Moslem land.

The Moslem world desperately needs validation with any kind of perceived victory from God. It is not commonly reported that the actual reason Ariel Sharon went up on the Temple Mount in October of 2000 was to evaluate Moslem destruction of archaeological treasures from Israel's past. Quoting from the April/May 2001 "Report from Jerusalem" we read, "In the meantime, the purpose for which Sharon visited the Temple Mount last October (the vent blamed by the Palestinians for their uprising), namely, to view evidence of the Palestinian - controlled Wapf's destruction of archeological remains, has taken a new turn. Finally, in response to a petition from the Temple Mount Faithful organization to the High Court of Justice, the police have admitted that they are trying to rebuild two rows of a wall from the Second Temple period that the Waqf dismantled. Since the closure of the site to all but Muslims the work on transforming the Temple Mount platform into a Mecca-like mosque complex has escalated.

Workmen have been brought in record numbers to lay floor tiles and there has been the fear that important structures of the Eastern Gate have been destroyed." "Ariel Sharon,.. pledged.. that Jerusalem will remain in Israeli hands forever. Using the ancient honey-colored stones as a backdrop, the secular Sharon said Jerusalem would remain the "eternal and indivisible capital of Israel, with the Temple Mount at its center for all eternity." (3)

When the Lord promised to thwart Satan's plan to condemn Israe, God made a special point of mentioning that Jerusalem is His chosen city. Quoting from Zechariah 3:2 we read, "And the Lord said to Satan, "The Lord rebuke you Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?"

Although Satan failed to have God's beloved Israel eternally condemned, his burning hatred has been relatively directed against God's chosen people while they are on earth.

Truly the enlightened are blessed beyond mortal words with the knowledge of the things which will surely come to pass.

God will use a great wrath of Satan to drive His chosen of Israel into the arms of his Son Jesus Christ and Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. Behold the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle gainst Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the face of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You.

It shall come to pass in that day that there will be one day which is known to the Lord - neither day or night. But at evening time is shall happen that it will be light. And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be - "the Lord is one," and his name is one. All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin's Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananeel to the king's winepresses. The people shall dwell in it; and no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited." (Zechariah 14:1-11)

"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh."

We.. pray that today you will inherit everlasting life. Put your faith in Jesus Christ this moment for the forgiveness of your sins and immediately you will be washed clean by the blood of the Savior who was crucified for you almost 2000 years ago. Then you too may rejoice in the words, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen" (Jude 24-25) (3)

We have written about Israel since day one of this ministry, now in its tenth year and have witnessed tragedy after tragedy for both Palestinians and Israelis alike. My interest in Jews goes back to the years when I was growing up and witnessed the atrocities to Jews not only in Poland but in Russia by regimes that were evil through and through. Later in the Mormon Church I became very involved with genealogy and found my ancestors back to 900 A.D. very much involved in politics, the Lodge and the Catholic Church. I came from a lineage of priests, politicians and Masons who later in the fifteen hundreds conformed to Martin Luther's message and converted to different lives.

What was most interesting was a Jewish woman who married into the family. To hide from persecution she changed her name. No one in the family knew that she was Jewish until I sent for a birth certificate and found out what her real surname was. It was Abraham. The fact that she changed her name saved the family later from going to a concentration camp. I realized that God was watching over us.

Looking through reams of old records in Europe I discovered story after story about the Jews in Europe and the Netherlands. They were persecuted for hundreds of years and hid and ran without a place to lay their heads for very long and because they are God's elect survived against all odds. My heart goes out to them for that reason. Every malady that came along was blamed on the Jews and people chased them away to make the problem go away. The people in Europe were Catholic with the exception of Russia and other Balkan nations until Luther exposed Catholicism. They were taught that the Jews had crucified Jesus and that God was angry with the Jews and that they should be shunned.

Israelis had the protection of God Himself from the time Abraham proved to God that he was a believer in the resurrection. God through Abraham and Sarah's seed Isaac began to set up laws for humanity to live by and a priesthood to teach mankind about sin and what had to happen to absolve themselves of their sins temporarily and later permanently. Because Israelis repeatedly let God down during the Old Testament times the relationship disintegrated completely and God divorced His wayward wife but the love affair never really went away in spite of the heart wrenching experiences God went through with His beloved Israel. He plans to remarry Israel.

Jerusalem has the most interesting chronology of any country in the world. 4000 B.C. a Stone Age settlement took place in Jerusalem followed by the Bronze Age - 3000 B.C. representing the Canaanites. In 2500 - 1800 B.C. the Canaanites mingled with the Philistines. Hyksos ruled in 1700 - 1550 B.C. and the Canaanites recaptured Jerusalem in 1550 and reigned till 1220 B.C.. The Jebusites took over in 1200 - 1004 B.C. and from 1000 to 586 B.C. Israelites occupied Jerusalem. The Babylonians, the Persians, the Hellenistic Nation, the Hashonean Nation conquered Jerusalem. In 141 B.C. - 63 A.D. Macabbean Jews followed by Romans & Byzantines reigned and Muslims took over in 638 - 1072 A.D. Turks overthrew Muslims in 1072 A.D. and held Jerusalem for twenty short years. Arabs moved in for 7 years until the Crusaders conquered the Arabs in 1099 - 1187 A.D. when it went back to the Arabs for 330 years. The Ottoman Empire overpowered the Arabs and ran Jerusalem for 400 years. The British got in the act in 1917 during the WWI and managed Jerusalem for 31 years. In the late 1800s a group of Jews were inspired to move heaven and earth to reestablish the Nation of Israel with Jerusalem at its heart. The horrendous acts inflicted on the Jews became the catalyst in 1948 A.D. to reestablish the Nation of Israel three years after WWII ended. (Facts About Jerusalem, The End Times & Victorious Living, Vol. 15 - 2001)

This event in 1948 A.D. was probably the most significant day in history since the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for Christians. It was the first marker of the coming Tribulation and Scriptural prophecy fulfilled along with many others already fulfilled. The teaching that Christians will not know when Jesus comes back is incorrect. The Apostle Paul said that believers are children of light and will know what and when to expect the Rapture. That is why God has given these End Time ministries to keep us posted. They didn't exist 20 years ago.

We find in the hundreds of biographies about Adolf Hitler that the Protocols were the motivating factor that drove Hitler to his own and his nation's demise due to the madness of rounding up Jews and transporting them to gas chambers in various concentration camps in Poland. He had been told that the Protocols had been written by Jews were fraudulent.

About The Protocols of the Elders of Zion we found this H-Anti-semitism Document - Posted 22 March 2000 Philip Graves, "The Truth about the Protocols: A Literary Forgery," The Times of London, Aug 16-18, 1921

The document known in English as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is, to many people, obviously a clumsy piece of false antisemitic propaganda. Nevertheless, there have been and still are others who have taken and take the work to be a kind of revelation of the truth about a conspiracy of a small number of Jewish leaders to gain political control of the whole world.

The Protocols seem to have been first made available to a wide public in Russia in book form in 1905, in a Russian version. However, there was a somewhat truncated version published in a St. Petersburg (Russia) newspaper Znamya (The Banner) in 1903. Norman Cohn says (Warrant for Genocide, 1966-7, p 65-66): "Znamya was edited by P.A. Krushevan, the noted and militant antisemite. A few months before publishing the Protocols he had instigated the pogrom at Kishinev in Bessarabia [Russia], in which forty-five Jews were killed and more than 400 injured and 1,300 houses and shops destroyed." There was also an untruncated edition of this version published as a pamphlet in St. Petersburg in 1905, apparently edited by a retired officer of the Russian Imperial Guard, G. V. Butmi, a Bessarabian and associate of Krushevan (Cohn, p 66).

The first version in book form appeared as an appendix in the third edition, in 1905, of a book called (in Russian) The Great in the Small: Antichrist considered as an imminent political possibility, by a Russian mystic named Sergei Nilus. The original manuscript, which has never been discovered, may well have been written in French (cf. Cohn, p 69) and translated into Russian. Cohn says (p 67) "It was Nilus's version, not Butmi's, that was to become a force in world history.

That did not even begin to happen in 1905 . . . It happened only when the book reappeared, somewhat revised and enlarged, under the title [in Russian] He is Near, At the Door . . . Here comes Antichrist and the reign of the Devil on earth. And it happened because of the moment: 1917." Some say widespread attention to the Protocols began a little later, in 1918, after the defeat of Germany in World War I (cf. Herman Bernstein, The Truth About "The Protocols of Zion", 1935, p 50, quoting Count du Chayla, who knew Nilus personally).

In 1921, The Times of London published three articles written by the newspaper's Constantinople (now Istanbul) correspondent, Philip Graves, which showed that the Protocols had been extensively plagiarized from a book by a French lawyer and writer named Maurice Joly. The book by Joly was called (in French) Dialogues in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu. It was published in Brussels (Belgium) in 1864 (with a Geneva imprint, although the edition I have seen is dated 1868 and has a Brussels imprint). Cohn notes (p 74-5): "In all, over 160 passages in the Protocols, totaling two-fifths of the entire text, are clearly based on passages in Joly; in nine of the chapters the borrowings amount to more than half the text, in some they amount to three-quarters, in one (Protocol VII) to almost the entire text. This should be enough to demonstrate that plagiarism occurred.

There is one very notable difference between the Protocols as put forth by Nilus and the Dialogues as put forth by Joly. In the Dialogues there is no mention of Jews. These Dialogues were a political satire directed at the government of Napoleon III in France, during the Second Empire. Joly was given 15 months in prison by this government for his satirical effort. The author or authors of the Protocols, so far as they were plagiarized from the Dialogues, substituted Jews where Joly had (non-Jewish) members of the government of Napoleon III.

Some current believers in the truth of the Protocols have argued that parallel passages of this sort do not damage the credibility of the Protocols since, for example, both the Protocols and the Dialogues could have been based on a third undiscovered document in which the original protagonists were Jews. In this view, I suppose Joly becomes the plagiarist who changed the alleged perpetrators of a world-wide plot to take over the world. No such preceding document has ever been discovered. Of course, it is impossible to prove that none ever existed. This is a favorite tactic of many of those who believe in the authenticity of the Protocols.

They argue on the basis of documents that might have existed, and actions that could have taken place, even though no evidence whatsoever is available that they existed or took place. Cohn says (p 103): "All in all it is practically certain that the Protocols were fabricated some time between 1894 and 1899 and highly probable that it was in 1897 or 1898. The country was undoubtedly France, as is shown by the many references to French affairs." There are good grounds for concluding that forgery of the Protocols was undertaken or directed by a Paris agent of the then Russian secret police, the Okhrana. I say "forgery" because the Protocols are presented as a kind of minutes of a meeting of a number of "Elders of Zion" or "Wise Men of Zion". Since it seems clear that no such meeting as claimed by presenters of the Protocols ever took place, the work is a forgery as well as a plagiarism.

Bernstein, in the book cited above (p 26) is of this opinion: "The 'Protocols' were concocted not for the purpose of impressing statesmen, theologians, or even public opinion; they were drawn up in France and published in Russia to influence and inflame a feeble-minded person whose spirit already was filled with hatred of the Jew. That person was none other than Tsar Nicholas II." However this may be, in the years after 1918, the Protocols had a considerable influence on public opinion in numerous countries of the world.

Not least was their influence on Adolf Hitler. It can be argued that the Protocols were actually used by Hitler as a partial guide for his own political programs. But that's another story. The origins of the basic ideas of the Protocols can be traced back much further than the work of Joly. To examine this tangled skein, one can examine the following works: Herman Bernstein, The Truth About "The Protocols of Zion," 1935 Norman Cohn, Warrant for Genocide, 1966-67 Goran Larsson, Fact or Fraud? The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, 1994 (a Christian point of view) Richard S. Levy, A Lie and A Libel, 1995, which contains a translation of: Binjamin Segel, Welt-Krieg, Weltverschwörung, Weltoberregierung, 1926 Web sites: (as of Jan 2000) Abdul Hadi Palazzi, "Antizionism and Antisemitism in the Contemporary Islamic Milieu" Leon Zeldis, FPS, 33º "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Anti-Masonry and Anti-Semitism" The original exposure of the plagiarism involved in the Protocols was made by Philip Graves in three articles published in 1921. These articles, together with introductory and concluding articles by editors of the London Times, were published as a pamphlet in 1921.( http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~antis/doc/graves/graves.a.html )

Besides the Protocols associated with Israel is another concept, the Kabala. The International Jerusalem Post published an article that secular Jews are hoping that the practice of Kabala could become an international fad by means of celebrities who are coming to Israel to study it.

In spite of the fact that 'Revival before Christ's return' teachings are rampant today in mainstream churches, the Bible prophecies a Falling Away in the End Times to dovetail into the Anti-Christ's arrival.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

Later in another newsletter we will discuss the Rapture. It actually happens during this falling away period because Jesus's Body, the Church, will be gone before the Anti-Christ is ushered in.

International Jerusalem Post, by Shmuley Boteach, 12.28.2001: The next 1,000 years will be the Jewish millennium (world-wide according to this author). For the first time in its long and trying history, the Jewish religion is going mainstream. All around us Judaism is breaking free of its previously insular shell. The world's oldest monotheistic faith is bursting from its cloister. First, there are the celebrities. Big stars are studying kaballah en masse. They are going to synagogue to find spirituality, and - miracle of miracles - they are enjoying it.

Then, there are the pundits.
Rabbis and Jewish bankers are being regularly sought by the mainstream media for their opinions on all kinds of issues. Broadcasters, authors, and commentators promoting Jewish teachings and morality like Rabbi Harold Kushner, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, and Dennis Prager have achieved a mainstream following of millions and their Jewish message pervades the airwaves.
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At Oxford University, I witnessed thousands of non-Jewish students coming enthusiastically to our Jewish events. In my eleven years as rabbi at Oxford, I commonly had far more non-Jewish students attending my classes than Jewish students; we became a Jewish organization with thousands of non-Jewish members, who at times outnumbered the Jewish students...

For the past 2,000 years and the West, we have lived in a Christian world whose main theme is dualism. Christianity created a dualist society whereby God and the world, our souls and our bodies, our minds and our hearts, even heaven and earth, are in conflict. Humans have been conditioned to believe that they must choose between lust and love, altruism and mammon, ambition and piety, and spirituality and materialism. Christianity fashioned a world in which celibate monks were cheered for sequestering themselves in monasteries and vows of poverty guaranteed entry into the kingdom of heaven.

To be spiritual, the needs of the flesh had to be first sacrificed to the ascetic pleasures of the soul. And for the past millennium, this philosophy worked. The earth's inhabitants accepted that they could not have it all and they readily surrendered the ephemeral pleasures of this world for the eternal rapture of the world to come. But all that has changed.

This is a generation that insists on having it all. Modern men and women reject dualism. They refuse to choose between the spiritual and material worlds. Never has there been a more ambitious, materialistic society that yet reads more self-help books and search of deeper spirituality and greater personal growth. Young men and women today are career-oriented and self-indulgent. They work themselves so that they can shop, vacation, and indulge in a materialistic orgy of cars and techno-gadets... They want the spiritual and material worlds together. Today we want to be successful, but we are redefining success to include not only prosperity but also the attainment of spiritual goals.

This is what makes Judaism an ideal spiritual model for "Generation X," the "X" representing their confluence and intercrossing of the dual spiritual and material modalities. There is one God and He is everywhere. Everything comes from one source. It's all holy. You don't have to choose. When God gave the Torah at Mount Sinai, He came down to earth and made the world holy. This an all encompassing divine unity at the heart of creation. In Jewish spirituality - a powerful philosophy of synthesis - the objective is not to relinquish the earth and go to heaven, but to create heaven on earth.

Hence, Judaism is the only religion that from its inception has celebrated sex, rather than castigate it. You want to be rich? The Jewish message is not "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24). Rather, the message is, aspire to become a billionaire - just give a lot of charity. You love expensive cuisine and big fancy houses? No problem. Just have guest at your dinner table to share your abundance. And you want to be famous? Indulge your desire. Just make sure you become famous for all the good things you do for those less fortunate.

Embraced by gurus of the popular culture including Madonna, Roseanne, and Sandra Bernhard, the kaballah, which embodies the mystical side of Judaism, teaches us to embrace little sparks of every day experience and the seemingly insignificant moments of life. The main objective of the kaballa is the sanctification of the mundane, helping us to overcome the monotony and boredom of routine existence. Jewish mysticism is about making the ordinary extraordinary, the natural miraculous, and the everyday unique.

This is especially crucial to modern society, where our lives are lived in anticipation of "the big moment." We've become addicted to artificial excitement. Life today has got to be a thrill a minute. Modern existence is an ongoing search for fireworks displays and people get bored incredibly quickly when they don't get their fix of a new movie, a shopping expedition, or breaking news. So great is our yearning for shallow thrills that we are prepared to do almost anything to counter our boredom, even to sit for hours on end in front of a television for bit of banal entertainment.

Yet Jewish mysticism reminds us that they are spiritual sparks scattered throughout the world, from the majestic mountain peaks to decaying urban slums. The infinite is everywhere. Every time and every place can have great meaning so long as we choose to impregnate the moment with meaning. Once, when a colleague apologized to Albert Einstein "keeping him waiting on a bridge, Einstein said, "you didn't keep me waiting. In my head I was doing my work." There's no time or place in life that need be boring. Kaballah conditions man to discover the intensity and electricity of simple undertakings like prayer, friendship, and love. Every moment and every place can be special.

The idea of the world adopting core spiritual institutions is, of course, not new. Even in the ancient world, societies began adopting the Jewish Sabbath, for example, and the seven-day week that has become universally practiced the world over. Moreover, this was done amid great resistance from leading ancient thinkers like the Roman philosopher Deneca, who castigated the Jews as lazy resting one day a week. The same is true of the Jewish belief in linear history, progress, and the Messianic promises of tomorrow.

The ancient world eventually rejected the pagan cyclical model of history whereby humans and the world that contained them were condemned to an endless cycle of repetition with no real progress ever being made. Today, people live in hope and reject determinist fate, just as the Jews preached in ancient times.

What is new is that in the coming decades we will begin to see the modern world following suit and adopting more and more core Jewish spiritual practices. More and more non-Jewish men and women will want to study Judaism and be part of its philosophy of proximity to God, spiritual growth, and ethical excellence. And this will happen not because Judaism is a better religion than the world's other great faiths, but because it is more suited to our times.

The Jewish wave is a coming. For eleven years at Oxford I witnessed it swelling. It will make a great splash in all the world's cities. Scores of non-Jews will surf its crest. (The International Jerusalem Post, 12.28.2001)

The word 'Qabala' finds its root in the Hebrew word 'Qibel' meaning 'to receive by oral tradition'. This receiving refers to an oral tradition of esoteric or secret knowledge concerning 'essentially' the mysteries of Nature, and more overtly, the hidden teachings concerning the Hebrew Torah. The Torah is, of course, the first five books of what Christians call the Old Testament, and the oldest surviving of the Judaic liturgical texts.

The Kabala is an ancient Hebrew mystical system of thought. It is a symbolic representation of the path the Divine followed in the creation of the universe, including man. It is, by definition, humanity's process of returning to divinity along the same path.

Kabbala, also spelled KABALA, KABBALAH, CABALA, CABBALA, OR CABBALAH, is an esoteric Jewish mysticism as it appeared in the 12th and following centuries. Kabbala has always been essentially an oral tradition in that initiation into its doctrines and practices is conducted by a personal guide to avoid the dangers inherent in mystical experiences.

Esoteric Kabbala is also "tradition" inasmuch as it lays claim to secret knowledge of the unwritten Torah (divine revelation) that was communicated by God to Moses and Adam. Though observance of the Law of Moses remained the basic tenet of Judaism, Kabbala provided a means of approaching God directly.

It thus gave Judaism a religious dimension whose mystical approaches to God were viewed by some as dangerously pantheistic and heretical. The earliest roots of Kabbala are traced to Merkava mysticism. It began to flourish in Palestine in the 1st century AD and had as its main concern ecstatic and mystical contemplation of the divine throne, or "chariot" (merkava), seen in a vision by Ezekiel, the prophet (Ezekiel 1).

The earliest known Jewish text on magic and cosmology, Sefer Yetzira ("Book of Creation"), appeared sometime between the 3rd and the 6th century. It explained creation as a process involving the 10 divine numbers (sefirot; see sefira) of God the Creator and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Taken together, they were said to constitute the "32 paths of secret wisdom."

A major text of early Kabbala was the 12th-century Sefer ha-bahir ("Book of Brightness"), whose influence on the development of Jewish esoteric mysticism and on Judaism in general was profound and lasting. The Bahir not only interpreted the sefirot as instrumental in creating and sustaining the universe but also introduced into Judaism such notions as the transmigration of souls (gilgul) and strengthened the foundations of Kabbala by providing it with an extensive mystical symbolism.

Lurianic Kabala also profoundly influenced the doctrines of modern Hasidism, a social and religious movement that began in the 18th century and still flourishes today in small but significant Jewish communities.

The Kabala is presented, symbolically in the form of The Tree of Life. The Tree contains ten centers called sephiroth, individually sephira, which are connected by 22 paths. The centers are arranged in three columns, each with a particular meaning to do with male and female. The Kabala requires four of these Trees, one for each world of the cosmos which corresponds to the four suits in the Tarot an occult practice of witchcraft.

The Tree of Life is an archetype that follows so called creational patterns of sacred geometry. Other symbols relating to the Kabbala are the Winged Discs, Omphalos, Arcs & Archetypes The omphalos is a very common type of religious stone artifact. The word omphalos means "navel" in Greek. According to the ancient Greeks, Zeus sent out two eagles to fly across the world and they met at its center, the "navel" of the world--which the omphalos represents. Many records indicate that the omphalos stone was the holiest object at various oracle centers in all the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea, the most well known being at Delphi. It most likely originated from the "stone of splendor" associated with the Canaanite god Baal. The main characteristic of the omphalos/stone of splendor was its ability to allow direct communication with the gods.

Wings, stones, and a way to communicate with the Divine were involved from the beginning. in Astrology - Celestial Events - Winged Gods - Solar Discs. The symbolism relates to the Egyptian Book of the Dead. According to the hieroglyphs, symbol used is similar and relates to a human who speaks with Seker - god of the afterlife.

[Ed-note: As the Holy Spirit would have it, He had to educate us while we were putting this article together. There is never enough time. He has to keep working with us to get information we need to tell the whole story. Never having had anything to do with the Quabala we couldn't really address the subject as we should. We had ordered a video not related to this article and with it came an audio tape about the meaning of the Quabala.

The Quabala represented the Jewish secret society in Jesus's day. They were like the Freemasons today. They understodd Geometry and the satanic symbolism enabling them to perform magic spells. They were the pharisees who ridiculed Jesus and accused Him of using the powers of Belzebub (demons).

The Jewish secret society expected a promised redeemer who would be a powerful, rich, and a political king type person. The pharisees loathed the poor and wished to create social barriers themselves and the poverty striken society. They couldn't stand what Jesus was doing: reaching out to the poor and down-trodden. They plotted to kill him and attributed His powers to occult practices. The Scriptures are in Matthew 12:22-27,

According to the teacher, Jesus created the following law, that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin. Men who participate in the Scull and Bones society and the German Thule Society commit this sin with rituals they have to undergo to become members. They are what are called the illuminati, the wise men or enlightened ones. [end of ed-note].

Can the Biblical Tree of Life be Compared to the Kabala. Since the Kabala is equated to the Tree of Life, it is discussed in the Bible. Genesis 2:9 states "And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Addressing this Scripture the note states that access to the tree of life was based upon a proper relationship with God.

In Genesis 3:22 we find God saying, "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." For more light on the Tree of Life go to Proverbs 3:13-18 were the Lord states that a man is happy who finds "wisdom" because it will provide understanding, gain is greater than gold, rubies, riches and honor and all her paths are peace "She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her."

"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise." (Proverbs 11:30) "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:7)

"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." (Revelation 22:1,2,14)

As in the days of the Apostles, Israelis are once again trying to lure Gentiles into practicing the Law of Moses so they too can be judged by the Law. Romans 9:30-33 tells us "What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumblingstone and rock of offense: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." The Jews to this day do not accept Jesus Christ and seek a relationship with God through the Kaballah which is an offense to God.

"Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

"And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went."

"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. There will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (Ezekiel 36:17-22,24-27)

The question is what is keeping the Ultra-Orthodox world from disintegrating? After 53 years, there remains an Ashkenazi-Sephardi divide in Israel, including in mainstream secular Israel. Ashkenazim, on the whole, are better educated and rank higher on the economic ladder. The country's poorest Jewish neighborhoods are overwhelmingly Sephardi - including misnamed "Russian immigrants" from the Islamic republics of the former Soviet Union - while the richest and most prestigious are overwhelmingly Ashkenazi. "Jewish ideology holds that it is the religion which keeps us together. This has been true in the Diaspora, but in Israel, no force has been more divisive than religion," says Bar-Ilan University's Prof. Menachem Friedman, the country's leading authority on the ultra-Orthodox.

Specifically, the root of Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox prejudice is the greater intellectual rigor of their approach to Judaism. "The Ashkenazi world of Torah study dealt with abstract concepts more than did the Sephardi style. It was more sophisticated," he says. Rabbi Menachem Porush has been at the center of Israeli politics for most of his life, and ranks in the who's who of Israel history. He sits at his desk, a white-bearded man of advanced age, dressed in a black kippa and black plaid robe. The gold cufflinks on his white shirt are visible. "I love to write," he says. "I work from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m., but prayer takes up much of my time, and I take a nap in the afternoon," he says. He is a deeply contented man, very polite, and apologizing repeatedly for the phone interruptions. On a cabinet is his six-volume memoirs that begin "with the last days of the Turkish era," he says. (Ottoman-ruled Jerusalem fell to the British in 1917, three years after he was born.)

I'm writing another six volumes," he notes. With God on their side Israel's ultra-Orthodox minority grows, so does its impact on the majority's daily routine. One of the most basic issues in accommodating ultra-orthodox sensitivities, says Uri Regev, executive director of the Reform movement's Religious Action Center in Jerusalem, is balance. "Is it a live-and-let-live situation, or is it a situation whereby in order for you to live I have to suffer," asks the Reform rabbi. "If I have to suffer, I want to know if there is legitimate justification for it." Rights of ultra-Orthodox to live as they want against rights of others to behave in ways they consider appropriate are daily challenged in countless instances.

The ultra-Orthodox ownership of a store is evident in that only items considered kosher lemehadrin (the strictest standards), are sold. Jewish music plays over the loudspeaker. Plastic signs with the nighttime Sh'ma prayer are stacked on a revolving rack. When a woman is not dressed modestly, ultra-Orthodox Jews are disturbed by it. A woman said that it's good there is a place like it. "We're separate," she says. "We don't want our children to learn from them."

Every once in a while people who do come get upset at the restrictions. Protesters and the ultra-Orthodox shouted at each other as store managers tried to explain its policy to the protesters. A law passed in 2000 forbids discrimination in goods, services and entrance to places of entertainment and public places.

"The haredim always wanted to separate themselves; they didn't want to live with the secular," says Menachem Friedman, a sociology professor who specializes in studying ultra-Orthodox. Larger-than-average families and government policy are both at the root of the large percentage of ultra-Orthodox in Jerusalem, Friedman says. When the government decided to develop Jerusalem by subsidizing housing in suburbs such as Gilo and Ma'ale Adumim, says Friedman, it inadvertently pushed non-ultra-Orthodox out of Jerusalem proper. This gives the ultra-Orthodox community a stronger political voice and economic voice in the city. ( The International Jerusalem Post, December 7, 2001)

There is a wonderful event which the Talmud relates concerning the Temple Mount as a key place and example for the fulfillment of prophecy and Israel which should be a lesson to our time. This event took place after the destruction of the Second Temple during the time of the great rabbi and leader, Rabbi Akiva, who was also behind the Bar Kochva revolt against the Romans from 133CE. One day Rabbi Akiva, together with other rabbis and students, walked on the Temple Mount discussing Torah and the Word of G-d. The Temple Mount was a scene of terrible destruction and suddenly they saw a fox running out from the place of Holy of Holies. When all of his colleagues saw this painful reminder of the situation, they started to cry and could not stop weeping.

However, Rabbi Akiva, when he saw this, became full of joy. When the other rabbis saw Rabbi Akiva's reaction, they could not believe it or understand why this rabbi could be joyful in the face of such a sad event. They asked him to explain his joy. He responded that the prophets prophesied that the temple would be destroyed and that foxes would roam the ruins and that afterwards G-d would redeem his people, Israel, the Temple Mount, Jerusalem and the land of Israel and that He would rebuild the Temple and send Mashiach ben David. Rabbi Akiva said that when he saw that the first part of the prophecy was fulfilled and that foxes were roaming in the midst of that destroyed Temple he became sure that the latter part of comfort to and redemption would also be fulfilled.

That was the reason he became full of joy because he knew that redemption would also soon come. All those who were with him also became full of joy and his understanding brought comfort to their hearts.

On the day of the liberation of the Temple Mount during the Six Day War of 1967, a mysterious event occurred. As Gershon Salomon and the soldiers were walking on the Temple Mount, someone dressed in civilian clothing suddenly appeared. He approached the group speaking English and told them that he had come to show them the location of the Temple in its complex on the Temple Mount. He immediately took the group back to the Dome of the Rock, where they stood shortly before with tears in their eyes at the moment of the liberation.

[below:Solomon's Stables beneath the Southeastern Corner of theTemple Mount]

He showed the group the site of their Temple, the rock of Abraham and Isaac and the Holy of Holies, the altar, and the Cave of the Spirits, and the function of every place in the temple complex period. In a very excited way he spoke to them and repeatedly about liberation of the temple mount, as he boarded, he told a group that they should immediately rebuild the temple because that is why a G-d brought Israel back to the Temple Mount with such great victory. The group asked the man who he was, and he replied that he was an Arab guide for the Temple Mount. However, he did not look like either an Arab or a guide. The group asked him why he had not spoken about the history of Arab occupation on the Temple Mount.  He said that he had been sent by G-d to tell the group that the history of the Arab occupation of the Temple Mount Jerusalem, and all the land had passed away for ever; it was time to rebuild the Temple in the same location as the First and Second Temples, which he had indicated that day.

All this was told to all the Arabs and Moslems by their elders and was even written in their holy books.  They knew that one day, in G-d's timing, it would come to pass that time had arrived so Israel should do what G-d was expecting her to do and G-d would be with her as He always was and also had been in victory He had just given her. When the stranger finished speaking, he suddenly disappeared as if he had been blown away by a wind; he was not seen again. All the group were sure that this mysterious "person" who was an angel sent by G-d to tell Israel that He was expecting her to immediately rebuild the Temple, to renew the days of Israel as it was in the Biblical times, and to open the door for the coming of Mashiach ben David. Gershon will never forget this event. (Today, The Bible & You, October 2001)

Jerusalem Post - 7/26/2001 - Yesterday the Israeli Supreme Court made an important decision as a result of the petition submitted by the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement. They decided that the Faithful Moment would be allowed to bring their cornerstone on a truck to the area of the southern Hulda Gates of the Temple Mount which, in the First and Second Temple times, were the main entrance for millions of Israelites to enter the Temple Mount for worship. The area is between the northern part of the historic City of David and the Hulda Gates and has a very important historical significance. On the one hand it was the main entrance to the Temple Mount in Biblical times while on the other hand it was the location of the palace of King David and the public buildings of his rule.

Worthy News, 7/29/01, Last week the update reported that U.S. Congressman Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) introduced the Temple Mount Preservation Act (H.R.2566.IH) with bipartisan support. This bill would eliminate financial aid to the Palestinian Authority until all unauthorized excavations from Judaism's holiest site comes to an end. Calling the destruction "one of the most unprecedented attacks on religious heritage of our time," Cantor stated that at a press conference that under the current circumstances, "thousands of years of Judeo Christian heritage is under siege at this most sacred of sites to Christianity, Judaism and Islam." The bill would "prohibit assistance to the PA or its instrumentalities unless the president certified that no excavation of the Temple Mount in Israel is being conducted" and states that the "massive excavations and unsupervised destruction of artifacts are undeniably affronts to the concept of religious freedom and tolerance that must be respected in order to achieve and maintain peace in the Middle East." (Today, the Bible & You, September, 2001)

[ left: Southwestern Corner after Excation at the Temple Mount ]

J.R. Church of Prophecy in the News wrote on January 2, 2002: As you know, the Jewish events throughout the 1900s are foretold in each of the first 100 psalms - in chronological order. The 1917 liberation of Jerusalem by the British is alluded to in Psalm 17. The holocaust of World War II (1939 - 45) can be seen in Psalms 39 - 45. The 1948 birth of Israel is the clear an undeniable subject of Psalm 48. Psalm 91 became the favorite psalm of the 1991 Desert Storm War because of its uncanny description of major events in that war. But Psalm 102 contains the most explosive and intriguing statements of all psalms. It starts out with Israel in big trouble. Her neighbors are plotting her destruction. But verse 13 says that God's "set time" to favor Jerusalem has come. Verse 18 says that the psalm was written for the "generation to come." The King James Version says, "they should be written for the generations to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD."

A literal translation from Hebrews says, "Let this be recorded for the last generation, so the newborn nation will praise God." Note that the literal translation calls the "generation to come" the "last generation." Note also that the term "the people which shall be created" is literally "the newborn nation." This is a direct reference to Psalm 48:13, in which the birth of a new Israeli nation is referred to as the "generation following ." The King James Version translation may sound different, but the exact same Hebrew term is used in both Psalm 48:13 and Psalm 102:18 - la do acharon, literally "the last generation." The newborn nation, born in 1948, may well be entering upon a "set time" planned by God. With war brewing in the Middle East, these are momentous days indeed. As Christians, we should be in much prayer for the safety of both our nation and Israel. We should be learning all we can about the Biblical prophecies concerning the "Day of the Lord." And we should be telling our friends and neighbors how they can find protection and safety through the Gospel.

The Tampa Tribune, August 17, 2001 featured an article about the U.S. and Israel's self- defense. Charles Krauthammer stated that no country can sustain what Israel is sustaining: one massacre of Columbine proportions after another. Prime Minister Sharon is flailing about for a strategy. He has tried three and finally he has ordered the deliberate targeting of those directing the terror campaign. But counterterrorism cannot stop the war. The war comes from the top. The relative calm that Arafat imposes when cornered or fearful, especially immediately after a terrorist attack, demonstrates (to even the most naive) who is running the show.

There is only one way this war will stop. The scenario would go like this: A lightning and massive Israeli attack on every element of Arafat's police state infrastructure - the headquarters and commanders of his eight security services, his police stations, weapon depots, training camps, communications and propaganda facilities (radio, TV, government-controlled newspapers) - with simultaneous attack on the headquarters and leadership of Arafat's Hamas and Islamic Jihad allies.

Arafat has given Israel war, he will now receive it.. Israel does not reoccupy Palestinian cities. Israeli troops stay only the few days necessary to (1) begin building a wall of separation between Palestinians and Israeli territory and (2) evacuate the more far-flung Israeli settlements. In the current bloodshed, not a single suicide bomber has come from the Gaza. Why? Because there already is a wall separating Gaza from Israel. Palestinians have lobbed mortars over it, but it is difficult to send suicide bombers through it. Such a wall built between the rest of Palestine and Israel is the only way to ensure the reduction of violence that all concerned say they want. Strike and expel. Abandon settlements and consolidate lines. Build the wall. And then? And then wait.

Wait for a Palestinian generation that will sign a peace treaty that it intends to live by, that really accepts a Jewish state as its neighbor, that really forswears violence. These are all explicit, written promises given by Arafat at that lachrymose festival of deception and delusion, the Oslo peace signing on the White House lawn in September of 1993. He violated every single one. Will Sharon do it? I am doubtful.. but we must allow Israel to defeat terrorism. If we do not, we are sentencing the region to endless war - ourselves to endless crisis. How right he was

As terrorist acts in Israel continue to escalate in frequency, the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon finds the only solution is found in increasingly drastic counter-measures. In turn the world is blindly uniting behind Satan in his obsession to destroy the Hebrew nation with demonically conjured up accusations of racism and genocide by Israel against the Palestinians. Rarely, if ever, will one be privileged to obtain from the general media a factual reconstruction of Israel's history which has led up to her present situation.

Without exception Israel has always been the victim of violent aggression and never the initiator of any war she has been forced to fight since her rebirth in 1948. Every bit of land that modern Israel has possessed at one time or another has been obtained through legally recognized inheritance, grants, purchases or forfeitures.

One gift of inheritance stands infinitely above every earthly condition for the Jewish right to possess the land of Israel and that is, the avowed deed of trust from the God of all creation. Two of the actual property lines declared by God which will one day soon identify the borders of millennial Israel will be the Nile and the Euphrates Rivers.

Between now and then when Israel will rest completely in the presence of her Savior, the Jews will fight. Drastic measures for survival will continue to dictate her every step as the world is brought to judgment and she is brought to her knees.

The Prime Minister, famous for escalation in almost every battle he joined in a long army career, has shown signs of impatience as well. "Something has to be done" about the Palestinian violence, Sharon told his Cabinet last week. "We can't continue like this. We have to adopt a policy that deals with terror." And in a slap at Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for helping negotiate the Oslo peace accord in 1993, Sharon added, "Anyone who thought we could place our security in (Yasser) Arafat's hands was mistaken." Persistent Palestinian attacks Israeli retaliation - defying what is supposed to be cease-fire - have fed an intensifying debate in Sharon's government Should Israel launch a devastating military attack aimed at liquidating Yasser Arafat and destroying the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and the West Bank?

In recent weeks a crescendo of newspaper leaks, Cabinet discussions and comments by high-ranking officials has reinforced the impression that the notion of delivering a knock-out blow to Arafat is being considered at the highest levels. So far, Sharon's government has rejected these suggestions in favor of what it calls a policy of restraint. Under that strategy, Israeli troops and security operatives have assassinated leaning Palestinian militants, engaged in daily battles with Palestinian gunmen, shot and killed stone-throwing teenagers and bulldozed Palestinian houses built without permits or used as shelter by snipers. Moreover voices within Israel's army, security agencies and government argue that any attempt to dislodge Arafat could backfire, resulting in an even more radical Palestinian leadership, possibly run by Islamic militants. "We don't want to do something that will make the whole world against us," said one military source. Still, there is something close to a consensus in Israel that the level of violence is unacceptable.

"I think that President Arafat is not only supporting the uprising, but also the leader of it," Marwan Barghouti, a leader of Arafat's Fatah movement, said in an interview on Israel TV's Channels 2. Israel has long charged that Arafat has directed the violence in hopes of extracting concessions from Israel in negotiations. Arafat has denied he is behind attacks on Israelis by Palestinian militants. He has suggested he is doing everything he can to stop the violence, but that he cannot go against the popular mood."

"Ashkelon shall see it and fear; Gaza also shall be very sorrowful; and Ekron, for He dried up her expectation. The king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. "A mixed race shall settle in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Phillistines. "I will take away the blood from his mouth, and the abominations from between his teeth. But he who remains even he shall be for our God, and shall be like a leader in Judah, and Ekron like a Jebusite."

God has declared in Isaiah 46:9-10, ".. I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are yet done.." And again in Revelation 19:10 the word of the Lord proclaims, "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."(4)

DEBKfile January 23,2002: DEBKAfile's military sources report that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has ordered his 20,000-man police force to take to the war field, a drastic step that moves his confrontation with Israel into the realm of full-scale belligerence. Militarizing his police force is more than just another blatant violation of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords, which established the Palestinian Authority and allowed it to establish a police force confined to civilian duties; it is their death blow.

Arafat fully comprehends the international, diplomatic and legal consequences of his action. Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority's secretary, Abdul Rahman, clearly declared all Palestinian accords with Israel null and void.Throughout his 15-month Intifada, Arafat held back from burning his last bridges to Oslo. By and large, he kept the Palestinian Authority's police force clear of Palestinian terrorist operations against Israel, aside from logistics support for terror squads.

His final leap into full-scale belligerence was not revealed in the reports of IDF preparations for extremely grave contingencies that have been issuing in the last 24 hours from high-ranking Israeli military officers. But, DEBKAfile's military sources reveal, those officers were referring more to the new Palestinian police deployment than to the next threatened terror wave, for which the highest security alert is in force in all parts of Israel.

However, on Monday January 21, a top Palestinian police officer, Gen. Abdel-Razek al-Majaydeh, announced over Iranian television that 'Palestinian forces' would henceforth be taking full and active part in the war against Israel.

This announcement brought Miguel Moratinos, the European Union's special Middle East envoy, rushing over to Ramallah, to demand an explanation from Arafat of the use to which European funds were being put. Those funds are extended to support a civilian police force, nothing more. He reminded the Palestinian leader that, when he declared his confrontation with Israel in September 2000, Europe froze the subsidy, pending receipt of Arafat's guarantee that no Palestinian policemen would take part in hostilities against Israel. Payments were then renewed.

Foreseeing a second halt in the wake of his escalation, Arafat has been sending his emissaries round the Arab oil-producing states in the last two weeks, to solicit replacement funds. Saudi Arabia may be contemplating acceding to Arafat's demands and taking the radical step of shouldering the cost of a military force waging war on Israel. Riyadh will be influenced in its decision by its growing rift with Washington.

DEBKAfile's military experts note that the Palestinian police force is not an irregular militia like the Tanzim or a terrorist gang like the Aqsa Brigades, but an organized regular corps with a command hierarchy, an operations arm, intelligence, an advanced communications network and considerable mobility. It is equipped with hundreds of vehicles, some armored, donated mainly by the United States, the UK, Germany, France and Italy, as well as being amply armed with automatic weapons, including heavy machine guns.

To enhance the force's combat capabilities, DEBKAfile's military sources have no doubt that Arafat will break open the heavy weapons caches he has hidden around the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

For the IDF, this means that, in addition to chasing and pre-empting terrorist squads, it must prepare to face medium-scale battles against a regular military force. Israelis have become inured to hearing about Israeli air force bombardments of empty Palestinian police centers and tank assaults to demolish Palestinian police facilities. Now they will start hearing about aerial bombings of Palestinian police convoys on their way to attack Israeli targets and Israeli tanks flattening Palestinian police positions.

January 21, 2002: DEBKAfile's Exclusive Military Sources: Since the Israeli army's massive takeover of the Palestinian town of Tulkarm on the West Bank before dawn Monday, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has, according to DEBKAfile's military sources, advanced the timetable for his planned Waterloo, the battle he sees as his last heroic stand. Confined to Ramallah since December 3, Arafat said to his intimates a few days ago words to the effect that: We are all in rapid motion towards laying down our lives in the sacred cause.

The expression he used was not contemporary; it came from the old Muslim Hadith tradition. One feature of the Intifada Arafat embarked on 15 months ago is his increasing resort to fundamentalist modes of speech and thought.

Our sources take his words to mean that he is ready for a final showdown with Israel, barring only the time and venue. Once they are decided, he will order the secret Palestinian arsenals opened up and the heavy weapons he has stockpiled in the Gaza Strip and West Bank brought out for battle. He is known to have hidden stores of Qasem-1 and Qasem-2 rockets, mortars and anti-tank and anti-air missiles. They will be used for attacks on Israeli population centers and setting Israeli tanks and helicopters on fire. Arafat will no doubt follow Osama bin Laden's example and instruct his men never to surrender but fight to the death. It is far from sure that every last Palestinian will obey this directive. Some may prefer to lay down arms and give themselves up.

The Israeli army command has developed responses to the various possible Palestinian scenarios, which may include instructions from Arafat to a Palestinian force to carry out a suicidal attempt to capture an Israeli town or village, or a part of one. This force could scarcely hope to survive.

His last diplomatic act before all is lost is likely to be a dramatic last-hope appeal from the battlefield to Arab, American and European rulers to intervene to save the Palestinian people. If this comes off, the Palestinian leader will have won the final victory of turning the conflict over to an international authority.

Even if his European backers let him down, Saddam Hussein and the Hizballah may ride to the rescue. They could fire their missiles against Israeli targets, thereby opening a second front and expanding Arafat's fight to an Arab war proper.

Arafat's last gamble has been decided, all except for the timing, location and sequence. By using the word masha'ri - meaning rapid - he sends a strong signal that he does not intend to let the grass grow under his feet.

There is no doubt that the stranglehold imposed on him by Ariel Sharon is tightening. It is given an additional tug every time a Palestinian gunman goes on a terror spree.
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Monday, the large force of Israeli tanks, APCs, paratroops, infantry and helicopters pushing into Tulkarem took over a whole Palestinian town for the first time. It clamped down a curfew and moved from house to house to detain suspects, facing very little resistance.

The terrorist who murdered 6 Israelis celebrating a Bat Mitzva in Hadera last Thursday, January 17, was a member of the Tulkarm Tanzim, a militia run by Yasser Arafat's Fatah. The Tanzim has taken the lead in terror operations since the capture of the Palestinian arms smuggling boat on January 3.

Since the Hadera outrage, warnings have proliferated of impending terrorist strikes planned for Israeli population centers. Israel has reacted with blockades of all four north West Bank Palestinian towns, Nablus, Jenin and Qalqilya, as well as Tulkarm. It has also bombed the government building in Tulkarm, dynamited the Voice of Palestinian building and tightened the military grip on Ramallah. IDF tanks have moved to within 50 meters of the headquarters in which Arafat has been confined since December 3, sparking some clashes and demonstrations.

Arafat's own people will not be able to ignore the snub administered their leader by the former US president Bill Clinton, architect of the 1993 Oslo peace framework accords, who welcomed Yasser Arafat to the White House and Camp David. In Israel to receive an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University, Clinton will not be calling on Arafat and has publicly accused him of missing a golden opportunity in 2000. He was referring to the Camp David meeting at which Arafat turned down Ehud Barak's proposals, the most magnanimous offer Israel has ever made the Palestinians. Instead he prepared the Intifada.

Clinton might also accuse himself of not understanding the nature of terrorism. The Washington Post has called his failure to do away with Osama bin Laden, despite the opportunities to do so found by US intelligence, the most serious lapse of his presidency.

DEBKAfile terrorism analysts note that Clinton, in the address he is taking round the lecture circuit, admits he cannot understand why Muslims are so anti-American when he, as president, went to war in Kosovo for the sake of the poverty-stricken Muslim farmers of the Balkans. The result he seems to have missed: The Muslim farmers are as poor as ever, but the Albanian mafia, al Qaeda's operational arm in the Balkans and Europe, has prospered.

In the same way, Arafat's bloody career 'and all the aid poured into his regime' will not do the hundreds of thousands of needy Palestinians the slightest bit of good, or compensate them for everything the Intifada has cost them ( http://www.debka.com/ ).

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Wednesday, January 24, 2002 ANKARA: Western diplomatic sources said Al Qaida insurgents have infiltrated the West Bank and Gaza Strip in an effort to determine whether the movement should make the Palestinian areas into their new home. The sources said Al Qaida appears to prefer the Gaza Strip over more distant locations such as Somalia.

Israeli military sources said Al Qaida agents have been steadily flowing into PA areas. The sources said they have formed close links with senior PA officials, including Mohammed Dahlan, the head of the Preventive Security Apparatus in the Gaza Strip.

Saudi fugitive Osama Bin Laden is said to be considering the Palestinian Authority as the new base for his Al Qaida movement, said a senior official here. "The organization [Al Qaida] has not yet been completely defeated," the official told the Ankara-based Turkish Daily News on Wednesday. "It will continue to cause more headaches for the international community."

The official, regarded as an expert on Afghanistan, said the Palestinian Authority could be the next address of Al Qaida, Middle East Newsline reported. The official said the movement would then join the Palestinian war against Israel.

Such a war, the diplomatic sources said would escalate as Al Qaida insurgents introduce non-conventional weapons. The sources said Al Qaida agents might have already transferred weapons of mass destruction technology to such Islamic insurgency groups as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

U.S. officials said the Al Qaida infrastructure in Afghanistan has been shattered and many insurgents are regrouping in Iran and Pakistan. But the officials said some leaders of the group are believed to have escaped South Asia by sea. ( http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_7.html )

Power of Prophecy, January, 2002 - The FBI now believes that Israel intelligence, are working closely with rogue U.S. and other foreign intelligence units, may be responsible for or otherwise deeply involved in the World Trade Center implosions and other acts of terrorism against the United States. Newsman Jim Galloway, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (reprinted in the Austin American-Statesman, November 25, 2001, pg. A-11), reported that of the 1,100 foreigners arrested by the FBI for suspicion of involvement in the September 11 incidents, 100 are Israeli Jews.

Five of the Israelis, says Galloway, well arrested after "Angry witnesses had seen the five at a waterfront park in New Jersey apparently laughing and clowning, and photographing themselves in front of the burning towers." An FBI surveillance team had been monitoring the five and took photographs of their activities. One of the five Israelis had assumed a first name of Omer, which is close to the Arabic name Omar. Another had a German passport in addition to his Israeli passport.

A third had an international flight booked to Thailand for September 13 - two days after the hijackings. Yet another of the five Israelis was discovered by the FBI to be a former paratrooper, assigned to an elite Israeli defense forces unit. The two Israeli Jews were arrested a man truck on Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania, near the site of the crash of the American Airlines flight 93. The box cutters like the ones used in the airliner that hijacked was found in that truck along with other incriminating evidence.

FBI investigators believe that most of the hundred men detained are a part of an Israeli intelligence unit operating out of New Jersey, near where the Anthrax letters were mailed. What appears to be a dummy company, Urban Moving Systems, of Weehawken, N.J., had been set up and claimed to be "employer" for all of the detained Israelis. The men, most with bogus or expired travel documents, were able to travel freely by truck throughout the USA.

According to news report, after the arrests an FBI SWAT team raided the New Jersey warehouse of the Urban Moving Systems operation and carried a dozen computer hard drives and files. Behind the scenes, the Israeli government is reported as jumping through hoops trying to get the men released and the FBI investigation shut down. Members of the Israeli parliament called on "friends" in the U.S. Congress.  The Mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Ohmert, personally called New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and asked him to intervene.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials are desperately trying to paint the incident as a "mere mistake" - just some silly young men clowning around, unconnected to an official intelligence group. "That's why the five laughed at the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings," says Mayor Ehud Ohmert. "They were just being immature and irresponsible ."

After September 11, sentiment changed dramatically. Sympathy for the Palestinian cause evaporated as the evil-doers, the "bad guys." Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stated,"Now we and the Americans are in the same fight." (Power of Prophecy, January 2002)

Israelis Buy $160 Million of UN Plaza Property declares that Israel continues to have faith in the Big Apple. In a strong display of confidence in the New York City real estate market, Ramat Gan-based VSP Capital Holdings Ltd said last week that it has acquired three buildings in the United Nations plaza for $161 million.

Israeli Disneyland, a $135 million project, is also being planned by the Disney Group. The park is planned for opening in 2005 and is to generate an annual turnover of $350 million. The Jews place some of their security in the United States. Although plans to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem have been postponed yet again, local builders are still banking on the U.S. president's promise. The Jerusalem Post January 18, 2002 states that this promise has generated several real estate bonanzas, but the continuing political debates over the move have some projects up in the air. One of the Bush's campaign promises was to move the embassy after taking office.

Instead he has invoked a national security waiver in June to postpone the move. Over on Hebron Road, where the embassy is designated to be located, Ambassador Real Estate is completing the final stages of selling and renting office space in Beit Hateyelet. Named for the nearby Haas Promenade (tayelet), the building is across the street from the planned embassy site. "We thought the US Embassy would come earlier, and now we're seeing that it could take a long time," said Isaac Levy. (The International Jerusalem Post, December 21, 2001)

With the introduction of the euro as the standard currency in 12 European countries there is likely to be an impact on Israeli investors. It will allow them to diversify their foreign currency portfolios away from the dependency on the dollar. In the long term, the increased political clout the European Union gains from having one currency is expected to affect Israel both politically and economically. The introduction of the Euro is expected to offer a viable alternative to the dollar, particularly with economic uncertainty in the US. The stronger the Euro is, the more the monetary union succeeds, "the stronger Europe gets, the greater clout the EU will have in the Mediterranean area, which will affect us both politically and diplomatically," Landau said. (The International Jerusalem Post, January 11, 2002)

In Nazareth, Israel is ignoring Christian rights. A Christian couple who visited Nazareth wrote: "We are surprised by the continued Muslim demand that a mosque be built in front of an important church in Nazareth. We visited Israel more than a year ago and at that time we could not visit the churches because they closed down to show their anger at the Israeli government.

We couldn't believe that Israeli government would ignore the right of the Christian church to stand alone. Now, more than one year later, the same problem exists. We do not understand the Israeli government's reluctance to just say no to this ridiculous Arab fantasy. It is no different to the United States bending over backwards to satisfy the Arabs in order to establish a coalition.

Israel is catering to unreasonable demands so it can avoid problems. This approach hasn't worked before and it will not work now. We hope the government starts to see this as similar to being asked by the United States government to keep a low profile. The more Israel gives in, the more demands will be made. (The International Jerusalem Post, December 21, 2001)

Is Jerusalem About to be Declared an International City in which a Combination Jewish Temple / Muslim Mosque / Christian Church can be Built?

A News Brief: "Should Jerusalem become an international city?" BBC News Talking Point, November 5, 2001. "Of all the outstanding issues in the way of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, the status of Jerusalem is one of the most complex and sensitive. It is one which seems to offer little scope for compromise.. The vast majority of Israelis insist that a united Jerusalem will be the eternal capital of the Jewish state. With equal insistence, the Palestinians say that the Arab eastern part of Jerusalem - Where the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, sacred Islamic sites, are located - should be the capital of their new state.

Is one solution to make Jerusalem an international city? This could involve administration by the UN, or a shared municipality, or to make it a demilitarized city of all the faiths who worship there." When the controlled mass media outlet like BBC News starts to publicize a proposal that closely parallels a key part of what the Bible says will happen, you have to start wondering if this sudden development might be conditioning! A key part of the plan to produce Antichrist is a spiritually internationalized Jerusalem! (Today, the Bible & You, December 2001)

Bill Koenig writes: Jerusalem is the Lord's time clock. The Bible tells us that Jerusalem will only have lasting peace at the time when Jesus Christ returns and begins His millennial reign.
Let us pray for the Peace of Jerusalem! Thanks to our Kathy Jones and Robert Durand for compiling these Scriptures.

"Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel. (2 Chronicles 6:6)

For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. (2 Chronicles 7:16)

He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;" (2 Chronicles 33:7)

Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! (Psalm 87:3)

I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the LORD." Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together, where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. (Psalm 122:1-4)

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, 'Peace be within you.'" (Psalm 122:6-8)

For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: "This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it" (Psalm 132:13)

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth-- if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy. (Psalm 137:5-6)

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. (Isaiah 62:6-7)

Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. (Isaiah 65:17-19)

Thus says the LORD GOD: "This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her." (Ezekiel 5:5)

On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. (Zechariah 12:3)

I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; (Zechariah 14:2)

Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. (Zechariah 14:3)

On that day, there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime, a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day, living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day, there will be one LORD, and His name the only name. (Zechariah 14:6-9)

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20) ( http://watch.org/ )

Bibliography:
The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida
Power of Prophecy, 1708 Patterson Road, Austin, Texas 78733
Today, The Bible & You, PO Box 690628, Tulsa, OK 74169-9940
Prophecy In The News, PO Box 7000, Oklahoma City, OK 73153
International Jerusalem Post, PO Box 420700, Palm Coast, FL 32142
Paw Creek Ministries, The End Times.., 5110 Tuckaseegee Rd., Charlotte, NC 28208
Rapture Watch, Jamma Mokhriby, PO Box 3113, Colorado Springs, CO 80934 (1)#268, (2) 261, (3) 265, (4) 280

http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~antis/doc/graves/graves.a.html
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_7.html
Bill Koenig - http://watch.org
DEBKAfiles - http://www.debca.com
World Tribune - http://www.worldtribune.com