The Arab League warns Israel: Don't touch the Muslim Temple Mount

The Arab League made up of twenty-two Arab member states has issued a warning to Israel to stay away from al -Aqsa Mosque which is located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This location is a very sacred spot for the Jewish people and the location of the first and second Jewish Temples over a one thousand year period of time.

Surprisingly, the Arab League's statement termed, "the Mosque on the Temple Mount" - the holiest of the Arab and Islamic holy sites which is contrary to Islamic law that sets Mecca as Islam's holiest site. The Arab League statement said al-Aqsa Mosque is a red line that must not be crossed and any attack would endanger the safety and the stability of the entire Middle Eastern region.


Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

The Arab League's warning to Israel not to touch the Muslim Temple Mount is contradictory to history and Bible prophecy as well.

The Arab League, an organization of 22 Arab states, is very strong in the Middle East and when they issue a warning, it should get everybody's attention. The Muslim world does have custodial responsibility over the Temple Mount but not to the extent that it can be referred to as the Muslim Temple Mount. History contradicts these Muslim claims.

The Bible states that King David captured the Jebusite stronghold of Jerusalem in 1048 BC. This is the time when David made Jerusalem the political capital of the Jewish people, II Samuel 5. Several years later, King David made Jerusalem the spiritual capital of the Jewish people when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into the city. In 1012 BC, Solomon, David's son, built a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount referred to as Mt. Moriah in II Chronicles 3:1. Mt. Moriah is that sacred spot where Abraham offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice unto the Lord, Genesis 22 in 1872 BC. This history lesson proves that the Temple Mount belongs to the Jews and has belonged to them for almost 4000 years. In addition to that, Bible prophecy says the Temple Mount will be where the Lord will dwell among the Jewish people, His people forever, Psalm 132:13-14.

History has been recorded and Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

Jews in Jerusalem and around the world today are praying for another temple to be built in Jerusalem

Tish B'Av, the 9th day of the Jewish month Av, is the day on the calendar in 586 BC and 70AD that both the first and second temples were destroyed. The first temple being destroyed by the Babylonian army led by Nebuchadnezzar and the second temple devastated by General Titus and the Roman army. 

Jews on this day gather near the area where these temples once stood at the Western Wall and during the 25 hour fast they read the book of Lamentations and pray for the temple to be rebuilt by next Tish B'Av, a prayer that has been prayed every day for over 1900 years. 

This Tish B'Av hundreds and thousands of Jews marched to the Temple Mount led by Gershon Solomon, head of the Temple Mount Faithful, to not only read Lamentations and pray for the rebuilding of the next temple, but to also protest American pressure to even give up the Temple Mount to the Palestinians for a Palestinian state. 

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

Even as America applies pressure on the Israeli government to give up the Temple Mount, there are Jews preparing to follow through on their prayers for a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. They have everything ready to build the next temple and fulfill Bible prophecy. 

On Tish B'Av hundreds and thousands of Jews gather at the Western Wall in Jerusalem and at the seven gates that lead up onto the Temple Mount to read the book of Lamentations and to pray for the temple to be rebuilt by next Tish B'Av. 

US pressure on Israel to give up the Temple Mount is in the face of God's plan for this sacred piece of real estate. 2500 years ago the ancient Jewish prophet Zechariah wrote that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would come back and build His temple, the kingdom temple, on the Temple Mount (Zechariah 6:12). I must remind you, however, that before Jesus builds His Temple, there will be a temple in the seven year Tribulation period (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15, II Thessalonians 2:4, and Revelation 11:1.) This next temple will be desecrated by the false messiah, the Antichrist. All preparations have been made for that temple, the tribulation temple, to be rebuilt and they could start construction today.

On Tish B'Av remember - Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.

God Uses the Wicked

God Uses the Wicked
Genesis 37-39
When we don't understand what God is doing or why, His ways can seem perplexing. The times when ungodly people seem to triumph over the righteous make us scratch our heads and wonder why the Lord doesn't intervene. But the truth is, He oftenuses the wicked to accomplish His purpose.
Joseph faced one hard-hearted individual after another during his years in exile. His brothers shipped him off to Egypt. His boss's wife accused him of an unspeakable crime. And even those he helped, like Pharaoh's cupbearer, forgot about him (Gen. 40:23). The actions (or seeming inactions) of God make little sense at this point.
But once the story of Joseph's life was written in full, it was clear that everyone who harmed or neglected the young man contributed to God's plan. The Lord used numerous people across several years to bring a humbled young Hebrew unexpectedly to power at the right moment to spare his family--who were the Messiah's ancestors--from the effects of famine.
In our circumstances, we can see God's actions only from the limited vantage point of our humanness. We experience the events He has allowed or caused but can't discern what He is thinking. Often the Lord's goals and purposes are hidden from us until His plans come to fruition.
God is sovereign over all the earth. We may wonder at the strange or even terrifying turns our lives take, but we can be certain that He is in control and at work. The wicked may triumph for a season, but the final, eternal victory belongs to Christ and His righteous followers.

As world leaders work for peace in the Middle East the current peace agreements are unraveling

World leaders in America, Europe, Russia, and the Middle East are working to bring about a peace in the Middle East even as three peace agreements between Israel and their neighbors are actually unraveling and may not be in effect for very long.

The Camp David Accords, a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, is almost a thing of the past with the present situation in Egypt as is the case with the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan with most Jordanians wanting to dissolve that treaty.

The Oslo Accords, a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, has never been normalized and is not a working agreement because the radical Islamists among the Palestinians have no regard for the treaty and in fact are calling for an armed struggle to eliminate the Jewish state.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

With three different peace agreements between Israel and her neighbors in place the Middle East peace process is in bad shape but it will be rescued according to Bible prophecy.

In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accords, the first peace treaty that Israel ever signed with an enemy state. The Palestinians and the Israelis also came to an agreement on peace in 1993 with the Oslo Accords. In October of 1994, the late King Hussein of Jordan and the late Yitzhak Rabin prime minister of Israel, both signed a peace treaty between the two nations. What is common with all of these peace agreements is that they never have been normalized. Even the peace envoy for the Quartet, which is the US, EU, UN, and Russia, Tony Blair has not been successful in bringing about peace. However, I must remind you that Bible prophecy does call for a world leader to come on the scene who will be successful in putting a peace treaty in place that he will make work.

Daniel 9:27 says that the Antichrist will confirm a treaty between Israel and her neighbors. I did not say he will sign a treaty, but instead confirm, strengthen, make stronger, make the treaty work. In order for this to happen, there must be a peace treaty or three peace treaties on the table not working. The Antichrist will confirm them.

There are three peace treaties on the table not working, waiting for the Antichrist, a world leader, to appear.

In God We Trust; reaffirming our national motto!!!

In January 2011, Congressman J. Randy Forbes introduced H.Con.Res.13, to reaffirm 'In God We Trust' as our national motto and encourage its display in public building and government institutions.  The bill has 64 bipartisan cosponsors and was reported favorably out of the House Judiciary Committee in March of 2011. 'In God We Trust' has been our nation's motto for over five decades.  It is part of our national anthem and alluded to in our Pledge of Allegiance.  It is written on our coins and our currency and is engraved in both the House and the Senate chambers, as well as in numerous public building across our nation

President Obama inaccurately proclaims "E Pluribus Unum' our national motto.

Last November before a worldwide audience, in a much-anticipated and much-publicized speech focusing on the United States' relationship with the Muslim world, President Obama falsely proclaimed that our national motto was E pluribus unum. In reaction, 42 bipartisan Members of Congress wrote aletter calling on the President to correct his inaccurate statement, noting that the official national motto is In God We Trust. Not only did the President fail to issue a correction, he has failed to even respond to the letter. The uncorrected transcript of the Jakarta speech in which President Obama states, "In the United States, our motto is E pluribus unum -- out of many, one" remains on the White House website.  E pluribus unum has never been the motto of the United States.

Misunderstanding of the phrase "Separation of Church and State".

The First Amendment to the Constitution reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”   The words ‘separation of church and state’ do not appear in the U.S. Constitution.  Rather, the phrase originates from a letter penned by Thomas Jefferson on January 1, 1802, to the Danbury Baptist Association.  In fact, just two days after sending this letter, on January 3, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson attended a church service in the U.S. Capitol. The Supreme Court has held, “The First Amendment, however, does not say that in every and all respects there shall be a separation of Church and State. . . We find no constitutional requirement which makes it necessary for government to be hostile to religion.”

Rogue Court Challenges

Even despite the constitutionality of “In God We Trust” being established by the courts, just since 1996 there have been 7 direct court challenges to the motto. These cases are not isolated to one area of the country; instead, one-third of our federal circuit courts across the United States have heard appeals challenging “In God We Trust”.   Some groups bringing these challenges directly seek "freedom from religion," a goal which grossly distorts the constitutionally-granted "freedom of religion." These cases have sought to challenge the motto itself, as well as its inscription on our currency and display on public buildings. In every case, the courts have upheld the constitutionality of the national motto.  Other court challenges have been brought in recent years aimed at prayer in school, the long-standing displays of crosses at veteran’s memorials, the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Day of Prayer, and the words ‘so help me God,’ frequently used to conclude the presidential oath of office.

Inaccuracies and Omissions in the Half-Billion-Dollar Capitol Visitor Center.

In 2008, the over half-billion dollar Capitol Visitor Center opened for the purpose of educating over 15,000 Capitol visitors daily on the “legislative process as well as the history and development of the architecture and art of the U.S. Capitol.”  When finally opened, however, Capitol Visitor Center historians had sanitized the public building of any references to our national motto, including replacing the inscription of ‘In God We Trust,’ inscribed above the Speaker’s Rostrum with stars in a replica of the House Chamber and cropping an actual picture of the chamber so you could not see the words ‘In God We Trust.’  Additionally, a plaque was placed in the Visitors Center falsely "educating" visitors the national motto was “E Pluribus Unum.”  Only after Members of Congress intervened publically and legislatively were these omissions and inaccuracies corrected.

Efforts to Remove God from Public Domain

In recent years unelected government bureaucrats have become increasingly apt to remove, obscure, or bar references to God or our national motto, even when their actions reverse decades of long-standing traditions.  In most cases, congressional intervention and pressure was required to reverse the decision.  The Department of Veterans Affairs attempted to ban flag folding recitations at military funerals that referenced God or religion, even if specifically requested by the family of the deceased. The U.S. Mint attempted to remove the inscription "In God We Trust" from the front of the new Presidential dollar and instead print it on the edge of the coin.   The National Park Service attempted to turn a capstone replica of the Washington Monument, bearing the inscription "Laus Deo" or "Praise be to God" so the public could not read it. The Navy and Air Force attempted to enact policies that would have affected the ability of military chaplains to pray according to their religious conscience. The Architect of the Capitol refused a teen's request for a certificate noting his grandfather's "love of God, country and family" to accompany a souvenir flag that had flown over the building - a decision that would have prohibited even the Pledge of Allegiance from being printed on the flag certificates.

It is Our History

At our nation's founding.  Authors penned the Declaration of Independence writing, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”  In nation's infancy. Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that would become our national anthem the Star Spangled Banner containing the stanza, “And this be our motto—‘In God is our trust.’”  In the midst of Civil War. President Lincoln addressing a war torn, weary, and divided nation, saying at the Gettysburg address, “this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” During the economic expansion of America's industrialization. Congresses passed the Coinage Act stating that the Secretary of the Treasury "may cause the motto ‘In God We Trust’ to be inscribed on such coins as shall admit of such motto."    World War I. In his speech before Congress asking for a declaration of war, President Wilson said “…The day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured.  God helping her, she can do no other.”  After nearly a decade of Great Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a Thanksgiving proclamation saying, “Thus from our earliest recorded history, Americans have thanked God for their blessings. In our deepest natures, in our very souls, we, like all mankind since the earliest origin of mankind, turn to God in time of trouble and in time of happiness. In God We Trust.”  At D-Day facing Nazi advances on Europe. In his famous radio address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Americans to join him in praying, “Help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice… As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our effort.”  During the Baby Boom. "In God We Trust" was inscribed above the south entrance door in the Senate chamber during the 1949-1951 reconstruction. Cold War and Economic Prosperity. In a speech given during the Cold War, President John F. Kennedy said, “Today our Nation is passing through another time of trial… We will need to draw upon the best that this Nation has--often--and draw upon it physically and intellectually and materially.   But we need also to call upon our great reservoir of spiritual resources…The guiding principle and prayer of this Nation has been, is now, and ever shall be ‘In God We Trust.’”  Civil Rights Movement. Two years after Brown vs. Board of Education and one year after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus, ‘In God We Trust’ was adopted as the official national motto of the United States.  Vietnam War. In the midst of the Vietnam War, President Lyndon Johnson said, “Not long ago I received a letter one morning from a mother whose son had been killed in Vietnam.  She wrote to me saying, ‘…As long as we believe, our strength is in our faith in God and He will never fail us.’ So, my countrymen, in those words from that dear mother are to be found the greatness of this Nation and also the strength of its President.” Reagan Years. In 1984, in an address to the nation, responding to an effort to remove prayer from our public schools, President Reagan said, “The first amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people from religion; that amendment was written to protect religion from government tyranny. The act that established our public school system called for public education to see that our children learned about religion and morality. References to God can be found in the Mayflower Compact of 1620, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the National Anthem. Our legal tender states, ‘In God We Trust.’  But now we're told our children have no right to pray in school.  Nonsense.  The pendulum has swung too far toward intolerance against genuine religious freedom. It's time to redress the balance.” 1990’s. Following the Oklahoma City bombings, President Bill Clinton delivered a speech saying, “I ask all Americans tonight to pray—to pray for the people who have lost their lives, to pray for the families and the friends of the dead and the wounded, to pray for the people of Oklahoma City. May God's grace be with them.”  Present day. In 2002, in response to a case challenging the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance, Congress passed and President Bush signed a law reaffirming the Pledge of Allegiance and ‘In God We Trust’ as our national motto.  Additionally, in 2006, the Senate reaffirmed ‘In God We Trust’ on the 50th anniversary of its adoption as the official national motto of the United States. On the night of the September 11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush delivered a speech to the nation saying, "Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.'”

The Iraqi people who were under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein believe their present prime minister is becoming another dictator

Key political factions in war torn Iraq have accused their present prime minister Nouri Maliki of becoming a dictator and setting in place a governmental system similar to that of the late Saddam Hussein who ruled the Iraqi people with an iron fist in a decade long dictatorship.

Anti US Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr who leads one of Iraq's political parties has accused Prime Minister Maliki of trying to either delay or actually cancel the next Iraqi election and lead the country under a dictatorship similar to the style of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

A return to an Iraqi dictatorship like the one under Saddam Hussein is a precursor for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

For over a decade, Saddam Hussein led the Iraqi people as a strongman dictator and he gave the orders for thousands of his own people to be killed because they refused his leadership. Muqtada Sadr, a radical Islamic cleric who has a large militia under his leadership as well as a political party that Sadr heads, wants to bring down the Maliki government thus the reason for accusing Maliki of being a dictator.

This scenario fits the prophetic passages in God's Word that reveal a period of time in the future when Iraq will once again be under a dictatorship according to Revelation 18 and 13:16-17. These passages indicate that dictator will be the Antichrist, the Satanically energized personality of the Tribulation Period. Modern day Iraq, a war torn nation today, will indeed rebuild and be known as Babylon, that's its biblical name, and it will become the economic, political, governmental capital of the world that rules under the dictatorship of the Antichrist. The ancient Jewish prophets reveal that after Babylon comes back to power it will be destroyed, Isaiah 13-14, Jeremiah 50-51 and Revelation 16.

A move towards a dictatorship in Iraq today is indeed setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

The highest ranking Moslem cleric in Saudi Arabia is calling for all churches to be destroyed

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheik Abdul Abdullah, says that it is necessary to destroy all churches in the Middle East, and he based his declaration on the Islamic holy book, the Hadith, which quotes Mohammad as saying on his death bed, that only Islam can be practiced in the Middle East.  The Mufti asserted that all law in the Middle East must conform to Sharia, the law of the Koran as revealed by Allah, the Islamic god. 

This declaration by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia comes on the heels of a Wall Street Journal article written by the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations which stated that Arab discrimination against Christian minorities is a prevalent phenomenon throughout the Arab world. 

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

A declaration by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia that Christian churches in the Middle East must be destroyed is a page out of Bible prophecy. 

Over the last several years there have been many reports of Christian churches being destroyed and church attenders being killed by radical Islamists.  This phenomenon has been on the increase in recent days and the declaration from the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia that all Christian churches in the Middle East must be destroyed, will only add to the urgency of this destruction by Moslem radicals. 

Across the Arab world, more and more Christians and their churches and leaders, are the focus of a fast growing element in our world today who say only the Islamic religion is the one that all of human kind must be a part of in this time in history.  This scenario unfolding today was actually written about in a yesterday over 2000 years ago.  John, the human writer of the book of Revelation, wrote of the slaughter of believers in Jesus Christ in a number of locations in the book of Revelation.  Revelation 6:9-11 foretells of a time when those who stand for the Word of God, the Bible, and who have a testimony that Jesus Christ is their Savior, these believers will be killed.  Revelation 20:4 says that they will be beheaded for their faith.  These Biblical prophecies are referring to the time of Tribulation, that seven year period of judgment on the earth following the Rapture and before the Second Coming of Christ. 

The Grand Mufti's call for all Christian churches in the Middle East to be destroyed is indeed a lead up to Bible prophecy being fulfilled. 

As we celebrate the birthday of the United States, the question of America's place in Bible prophecy can be answered July 04, 2012

Independence Day celebrations mark the birth of the United States of America, an experiment that has been very successful in many different ways. Many Christians say that the reason for America's prosperity is due to their support for world evangelism. The United States has been the launch pad for worldwide missions, spreading the gospel to a needy world.

The other reason given for America's success is that we have protected the Jewish state of Israel for the many years of its existence, keeping the Jewish people from total elimination by its enemies. These two reasons, at the least, have played a role in bringing the United States to where it is today; but where is the United States in Bible prophecy?

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

The question of America's place in Bible prophecy does have an answer.
"Where is America in Bible prophecy?" That is the most asked question in any "Prophecy Question and Answer" time. I am always asked this question when I open up to inquiring people.
Once in a "Prophecy Question and Answer" time someone told me that they knew, so I asked "Where?"

They said, "Jerusalem."
I asked them to explain, and they spelled out the word Jerusalem.
"J - e - r - U - S - A - l - e - m", to which everybody laughed.

As I thought about the answer though, I believe that it is correct, the only place in Bible prophecy that I see the possibility of the mention of the United States or an illusion to the United States is in Zechariah 14:2.

Zechariah revealed that at the time of the end all of the armies of the world would gather at Jerusalem, under the leadership of Satan, Anti-Christ, and the False Prophet - there to confront Jesus Christ on His return to the Mount of Olives from where He departed some 2,000 years ago. If America survives the 7 year Tribulation Period, their army would join the other armies of the world at Jerusalem.

America today is great because the backbone of this nation is made up of true, Bible believing, born-again Christians. When the Christians leave this world at the Rapture of the Church, which could happen at any moment, the most powerful nation in the world will most likely fall from it's power base.

America's spiritual decline, in the present, will result in a power decline in the future. Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.