Countdown to Armageddon Newsletter Issue Number 8 -- (c) November 2000, The Family http://armageddon.countdown.org -- mailto:questions@countdown.org Along with this issue we'll take a look at the question: What does the Antichrist have to do with Jerusalem? And how does the whole Mid-East crisis fit into the Endtime? You'll find that below, but first some news briefs. ________________________________________________________________ ENDTIME NEWS DIGEST A compilation of articles proving that we are indeed living in the 'Time of the End' ________________________________________________________________ WAR _____________________________________________________________ World's conflicts killed 100,000 in past year At least 100,000 people have died in armed conflicts in the past year, the majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa. [Agence France-Presse] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?war_worlds_conflicts_kill_100000 High-tech superpower threatened by low-tech terrorists The U.S. is an unrivaled superpower. So instead of fighting the Pentagon on its own terms, the nation's enemies have been looking for its Achilles' heel. [By Michael R. Gordon, N.Y. Times News Service] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?war_hightech_superpower_threat A government by the people, for the military-industrial complex. In the wake of the end of the Cold War, American companies have been eager to find new sorts of missions for which they can supply planes and helicopters. [Jim Mann, Los Angeles Times] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?war_government_for_military APOSTASY ________________________________________________________ Chinese Christians reportedly beaten, die A Chinese Protestant arrested while worshipping at an illegal service has died in a central China jail after being beaten and then denied medical care, a rights group reported. [Associated Press] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?apo_chinese_christians_die CLONING _________________________________________________________ Religious group strives to clone a dead girl 'The Raelian' group, which believes that human cloning is the key to "eternal life," has found a wealthy American couple willing to finance the group's effort to clone a person for the first time. [By Rick Weiss, Washington Post Service] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?clo_religious_group_clone ANXIETY AND STRESS ______________________________________________ America's unhappiness epidemic It is America's new problem that has no name: our unhappiness epidemic. [Rick Perlstein, The Village Voice] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?dis_unhappiness_epidemic EARTHQUAKES AND NATURAL DISASTERS _______________________________ Worried about climate change? You're living in it. If you have ever wondered what to expect from climate change as the planet warms up, consider the roll-call of recent natural disasters. [By Claire Miller, The Age Melbourne] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?ear_worried_about_climate FAMINE __________________________________________________________ Time running out for drought-hit Aral Sea region The Aral, the world's fourth largest inland body of water, has receded hundreds of miles since the 1960s, leaving in its wake villages stricken with a dwindling water supply, hot summers and salty soil. [Reuters] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?fam_time_running_aral_sea GOSPEL PREACHED _________________________________________________ Evangelicals alter Ethiopia's traditions Evangelicals now represent an estimated 10 percent of Ethiopia's 60 million-strong population, and their numbers are growing quickly. [By Andrea Useem, The Christian Science Monitor] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?gos_evangelicals_alter_ethiopia Bible booms in Mongolia The Bible is a bestseller in Mongolia. [Religion Today] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?gos_bible_booms_mongolia ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT ____________________________________________ A new world disorder Eighty percent of the world's population have never used a telephone, let alone sent an e-mail message. In this new millennium, the rich are getting smarter while the poor get left behind. [By Larry Elliot, The Age Melbourne] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?one_new_world_disorder TECHNOLOGY ______________________________________________________ More passengers taking to the skies The number of passengers carried by airlines around the world increased by 7 percent last year. [AFP] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?tec_passengers_taking_skies The house that thinks it's Jeeves Europe's first intelligent home, with a front door that opens at the touch of a fingerprint, a fridge that orders the groceries and a robot that mows the lawn... [By Robert Uhlig, Electronic Telegraph] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?tec_house_thinks_jeeves THE END _________________________________________________________ Reality is stranger than anything from Hollywood Even the most imaginative movie makers can't come close to the wonders and terrors of reality. [By K.C. Cole, Los Angeles Times] http://countdown.org/end/link.php?the_reality_stranger_hollywood ________________________________________________________________ JERUSALEM AND THE ANTICHRIST How does Jerusalem fit into the Endtime and more specifically what does the Antichrist have to do with it? ________________________________________________________________ According to Bible Prophecy, the final clincher wherewith the Antichrist definitely comes on the international scene & begins his 7-year reign is the famous 7-Year Pact or Covenant described in the Book of Daniel. This Covenant is spoken of many times in the Scriptures & will be like a promise of religious freedom. That's why it's called the "holy Covenant" (Dan.11:30), because it's a religious pact, a religious treaty which has to do with restoring worship, particularly Jewish worship, as it enables the Jews to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem & to restore sacrificial worship on its altar, a practice which was virtually the heart of their religious observance until their Temple was taken away from them nearly two millenniums ago. Are the Jews sacrificing animals to the Lord today? No! Because there is only one place on Earth where they would consider such resumption of sacrificial worship, & that's Mount Moriah, Jerusalem, where their ancient Temple altar was located before the Roman legions marched into Jerusalem in 70 A.D. & utterly destroyed it. The foundation of the ancient Temples' altar was the rock upon which Abraham started to sacrifice Isaac on top of Mount Moriah. For this reason, the Arabs & Muslims also revere this great city, ancient holy Jerusalem, & particularly Mount Moriah, as Abraham was also the father of Ishmael, through whom the Arab nations were born. In fact in the 600s A.D., when Islam was sweeping the world, the great Muslim Caliph, Omar the Magnificent, kindly offered to rebuild the Temple for the Jews at Jerusalem on top of Mount Moriah. But the Jews refused, saying that only in the time when their Messiah was to come was the Temple to be rebuilt, & it certainly could not be built by a gentile like Omar. So since Mount Moriah was also very sacred & holy to all Muslims, Abraham being the forefather of the Arabs as well as the Jews, the great Muslim leader Omar decided, "Well then, I shall build a mosque for my people on this great rock on top of Mount Moriah, to revere our great father Abraham." So from that time, 1,300 years ago, till today, a great Muslim mosque, the "Dome of the Rock" or "The Mosque of Omar", has stood directly over this rock upon which the ancient Jewish temple altar once stood. It's quite obvious that the Arabs today would never agree to the Jews coming in to their territory & rebuilding the Temple. And it's also obvious that the Jews would probably never consider building it under any kind of Arab sponsorship. So they're going to have to work out some kind of an agreement or compromise with each other, & the only way it could ever be done is with the direct intervention of an outside third party, like a World political government. And this compromise or agreement is what is generally accepted as the Covenant spoken of in the Bible prophecies of Daniel, time & time again. It's going to take some ticklish working and brilliant diplomacy to figure out some way for the Jews to rebuild their temple & re- institute sacrificial worship on their altar with the Mosque of Omar standing right over it, for this "Dome of the Rock" is the holiest of all the Muslim holy places outside of Mecca & Medina in Saudi Arabia. As it now stands right over what was once the Jewish Temple's sacrificial altar, exactly what they are going to do in order to get the Jews' Temple rebuilt, we don't yet know. Perhaps when the Antichrist makes this covenant, the Jews are going to have to compromise & settle for building their Temple somewhere near the same spot. Or perhaps this Mosque will somehow be destroyed? But whatever happens, we know that this Mount Moriah, Jerusalem, is the most holy place on Earth to the Jews, it's the most holy place on Earth outside of Saudi Arabia to the Muslims, & it's even one of the holiest places on Earth to a lot of Christians. Therefore this 7-year agreement will have to be a very ingenious compromise, & will no doubt deal with not only the Temple Mount, Mount Moriah, but the entire city of Jerusalem. In fact, right now Jerusalem is the big irresolvable issue, as Begin & the Jews have sworn that they will never let it go, that it is their "eternal capital" forever! The Arabs say that they will never let the Jews keep it, and the Jews say that they will never let it go. David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, vowed, "We took Jerusalem & we will never give it up again until the last man & woman is dead defending it! No matter what the cost, we will never give it up until the last Jew is dead! That's how all our people feel." So if there was ever any place where a mastermind's compromise agreement was needed, it's Jerusalem. That point is even more irresolvable than the Palestinian question, because both sides have been willing to at least talk about making certain adjustments regarding the Palestinians, but they're both absolutely adamant & unbending regarding Jerusalem. Both sides have come flat out & said that there will be absolutely no compromise. The Jews say they will never let it go, & the Arabs say they will never let them keep it. So some kind of a compromise has to be wrought to solve this very, very difficult problem. And anyone who could solve this pressing crisis over Palestine and Jerusalem in particular would certainly be considered a mastermind and a genius and a superman and no doubt all the world would wonder after him; (Rev 13:3,4) because no one has ever yet been able to solve the problem of the antipathy & the antagonism & the warfare between the Jews & the Arabs. So anyone who could somehow reconcile their differences & settle their fights considering that such religionists are the "fighting-est" people in the World & have started more wars than anybody anyone who could settle these differences & make them come to an agreement would really be a genius, a superman. That's just who it'll be, the Antichrist! I can prove from the Bible that he settles the Jerusalem question. How? It says that he takes it over & makes it an international city. In fact, according to the Bible, this World Dictator of this one-World government then makes that city his capital too! His political capital of his World government will be Jerusalem. (Dan.11:45.) So how could it belong to any particular one country or religion? Soon Jerusalem will belong to neither the Jews nor the Arabs nor the Palestinians nor the Muslims nor the Christians, but to all of them and most of all to the Antichrist. So in order to get in firm control and firm power he promises to internationalize the city of Jerusalem with this 7-year Covenant or Pact, no doubt some kind of an international U.N. or World government-sponsored treaty that will guarantee all religions the right to religious freedom there & religious rights of worship, enabling them to restore their various temples & sanctuaries, etc., & all be able to worship & have free access to Jerusalem. It's at this time, when the Antichrist internationalizes the city and promises religious freedom to all the World's faiths, that the Jews will most likely rebuild their Temple there. This will finally give them their golden opportunity to rebuild it & restore its sacrificial worship, something their religion has not had for almost 2,000 years. When Israel captured the old city of Jerusalem back in 1967, the aged Jewish historian, Israel Eldad, was quoted in Time magazine as saying, "We are at the stage which David was when he liberated Jerusalem. From that time until the construction of the Temple by Solomon, only one generation passed. So will it be with us!" And the recent "symbolic occupation" of Mount Moriah, Jerusalem, by a group of armed Jewish religious zealots in March '83, served as another reminder that the powerful religious factions in Israel today are definitely intent on re-establishing Jewish Temple worship on Mount Moriah. Just two weeks before the war in which the Jews occupied and took over the old Jerusalem and the temple mount area, on May 21st 1967, the Washington Post & the New York Times ran the following anonymously-sponsored full-page ad: To Persons of the Jewish Faith All over the World: The project to rebuild the Temple of G-d in Israel is now being started. With divine guidance & hope, the Temple will be completed. It will signal a new era in Judaism. Jews will be inspired to conduct themselves in such a moral way that our Maker will see fit to pay us a visit here on Earth. G-d will place in the midst of many persons in all walks of Jewish life the desire to participate in this work. Executive talents, administrators, & workers in all levels are needed. All efforts will be anonymous. God will know those desiring to participate. G-d's Will Shall Prevail! Remember what the Jews told the Great Caliph, Omar the magnificent, when he offered to rebuild the temple for them back in the 600s? They said, "No, the Messiah has to rebuild it." Well, then why will the Jews rebuild the Temple under the Antichrist? Will they think he's the Messiah? Think about it. ________________________________________________________________ Be sure to visit the following sections of our site when you get a chance: - Countdown to Armageddon http://countdown.org/armageddon - The Future Foretold http://countdown.org/futureforetold - Endtime New Digest http://countdown.org/end ________________________________________________________________ There is another interesting newsletter/magazine, called Activated. It's all about strengthening our walk with the Lord and includes subjects on the "last days" as well. Drop by and see if you like it: http://activated.org _______________________________________________________________ The Family is an international missionary organisation. Find out more about us here: http://thefamily.org ________________________________________________________________ * You are subscribed to the Countdown to Armageddon updates newsletter. 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