Israel Will be Central to World Politics, and to Asia in Particular

Cicero (106-43 BCE) the great Roman philosopher wrote: Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

Israel will be central to world politics, and to Asia in particular, in the 21st century. We shall discuss the why’s of it later but suffice to say that growing India-Israel defense ties are in the right direction and India stands to gain considerably from Israeli defense expertise and their expertise in counter-terrorism. Not surprisingly, Israel overtook Russia as the largest supplier of defense equipment in 2008-09.

Doomsday predictions center around the coming events in Israel. Nothing might really happen as the dates suggest, but nevertheless its worthy of some kind of attention. Remember Y2K, when computers around the world were expected to crash because of a global virus attack, then came May 15, 2003 or the passing of Planet X (PX) and now the most famous 2012 prophesy. Apocalypse and the end times are seen in 2012 according to Bible and Mayan predictions when the earth’s axis relative to the sun might change. You might say these predictions are made to sucker the gullible public but they require some attention. What’s the harm in taking note of events predicted by Biblical prophets. If not 2012, then 2019 or 2026 are said to be the dates of Armageddon or apocalypse.

The 2012 prophesy is in the Book of the Revelation of John, usually referred to simply as the Book of Revelation, which is the last book of the New Testament. Revelation has been included in the canon of the New Testament since the earliest times. Nevertheless, due to its cryptic nature, it has always been a subject of debate. The following events are predicted: a time of great tribulation; the battle of Armageddon; the second coming of the Messiah; the Millennium (a thousand year reign of peace); the imprisonment of Satan (portrayed as a dragon); the release of Satan after the Millennium; Satan's eternal banishment to the "lake of fire"; the Last Judgment, also known as the Great White Throne Judgment; the end of the world; the creation of a "new heaven and earth", with the holy city, the New Jerusalem.

In terms of structure, the book is built around four successive groups of seven: the messages to the seven churches, the seven seal judgments, the seven trumpet judgments, and finally, the seven bowl judgments. The repeated occurrence of the number seven contributes to the overall unity of Revelation. The various views on tribulation are actually a subset of theological interpretations on the Millennium, mentioned in Revelation 20. There are three main interpretations: Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennialism. Premillennialism believes that Christ will return to the earth, bind Satan, and reign for a literal thousand years on earth with Jerusalem as his capital. Amillennialism, the traditional view for Roman Catholicism, believes that the thousand years mentioned are not ("a-") a literal thousand years, but is figurative for what is now the church age, usually, the time between Christ's first ascension and second coming. Postmillennialism believes that Christ will return after ("post-") a literal/figurative thousand years, in which the world will have essentially become a Christendom.

The battle of Armageddon is a favorite topic because there are always plenty of trouble spots, especially in the Middle East, which provide the headlines around which one can weave his theories of how that final great battle is forming. The one passage which does mention "Armageddon" ( or more correctly, "Har-magedon") occurs in the book of Revelation:

The tribulation is a future time of world distress lasting seven years. The Antichrist will rule the world as a political and religious leader for the seven years. The first three and one half years will be a time of peace and prosperity. The Antichrist then puts an end to sacrifice and offering in the rebuilt temple. The last half of the seven years is a world holocaust never matched since the beginning of time. The Christian believers will be raptured out either in the beginning (pre-trib), middle (mid-trib) or after the seven years (post-trib). Armageddon, the last big war, will bring an end to this world as we know it. Christ will then come again with His raptured saints to establish a Kingdom of God on earth called the millennium. The Book of Revelation has been a book hard to understand, with all of its symbolism, especially in regards to future events.

When Christ returns again to the earth, however, He will, come as the all-powerful Messiah the Jews have been anticipating for many generations. He will be coming, not on a lowly donkey, but as the Conquering Warrior King, in full regalia upon a white horse, followed by the armies of heaven. [Revelation 19:11-16] The book of Revelation also reveals Christ’s role as the Righteous Judge of the nations and as the Avenger of innocent blood that has been spilt by the wicked from the beginning.

The word antichrist is derived from the original New Testament Greek word pronounced antichristos, which means someone who opposes, and/or takes the place of, the true Messiah. Although the "spirit of the antichrist" has been around for a very long time, and there were relatively minor examples of antichrists long ago, the ultimate end-time antichrist, identified variously as the "lawless one" or "man of sin" or "beast" is going to be more evil and more incredibly powerful (made possible by That Old Serpent) than any human that has ever existed. In a way, he will be the embodiment of Satan himself because no one is more anti-Christ than Satan. The antichrist will be a great military leader.

Count back 1260 days from December 21, 2012 and check the news for information about a charismatic diplomat who negotiates a peace treaty allowing Israel to re-start their system of sacrifice on the Temple Mount without threat from radical Muslims. The temple need not be built for the Jewish sacrifice to commence, but watch information about the rebuilding of the Temple on the site of Solomon 's Temple. The diplomat who arranges this treaty will surely be seen as a hero to Israel, perhaps they will proclaim him their messiah outright, but there will be signs and omens as well. Perhaps this diplomat will arrange a peace directly after the Gog Magog War occurs, and so look for that battle in the mid-east to occur sometime between now and 1260 days before December 21, 2012. The most coveted and contested property in all Israel is the temple mount. In 1967 at the victorious culmination of the 6 day war, Israel captured the temple mount. For the first time in over 2,300 years, Israel again had control of the holiest site in Judaism. Despite Israel's incredible victory of the 6 day war and their miraculous recovery of the land where the first and second temple once stood, the Israeli government turned over authority of the temple mount to the Moslems.

A study of the events leading up to Armageddon, typically called the Tribulation or Jacob's trouble (since this period deals with Israel & Jerusalem and the Jerusalem temple), seems more valid as the Millennium approaches. Such occurances as the "Coming of Antichrist" , the re-establishment of Israel's temple sacrifice in Jerusalem, the "abomination of desolation", and the resurrection of the dead are revealed in Bible prophecy, esp. the book of Daniel. Daniel contains a prophetic timeline that is to be taken literally (Daniel 8:26). By examining the prophecy given to Daniel concerning the Tribulation, Daniel's 70th Week, & the "Coming of Antichrist", an accurate timeline showing the seasons to expect prophetic fulfillment can be derived. The time frame of Daniel's 70th Week is consistent with God's fulfillment of prophecy within the feast days of Israel.