From back cover: Israel is not to give up her covenant land, which was a gift from God to Abraham and his descendants through the Abrahamic covenant. However, the leaders of modern-day Israel and the world hoped that the "land for peace" plan would work. It has greatly failed, and Israel - the "apple of God's eye" - is now at the most dangerous point in her history.
In [this book], you will read about the nation of Israel and the impact that this small Middle East nation is having on the world's peace.
What is happening these days is truly remarkable. But then again, we shouldn't be surprised because the OT prophet Zechariah pre-warned us about the events leading up to the Battle of Armageddon, the Battle for Jerusalem: "And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it ... And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem" (Zech. 12:3,9).
John McTernan is a retired federal agent where he served for 26 yrs with the Treasury Dept. John is the cofounder of Int'l Cops for Christ. He has been active in the pro-life movement since 1975. John is the author of God's Final Warning to America, and recently completed Father Forgive Them, which is used in prison ministries throughout America to help bring convicted felons to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Bill Koenig lives in the Washington, DC, area and is a White House correspondent. Bill is very active in both local and national Christian activities. He began publishing Koenig's Watch in the summer of 1996. He moved to the Internet in 1997, expanding the coverage to int'l news and changed the name to Koenig's International News. This news service now includes WorldWatchDaily with constantly updated stories from a large variety of sources.
Forward: The Blessing or the Curse (by Dr. N. W. Hutchings)
Although most of the free world welcomed the formation of Israel in 1948, they were immediately attacked by 5 muslim nations. "After leading some 40 tours to Israel, the #1 tourist destination in the world, my last one in June 2001 was one of the few" (8) remaining i.e. Israel's tourism industry has been hardhit by terrorism. "Josephus records ... in the final days of the Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD 70, the priests [went] throughout the city encouraging the Jews to hold out, because Messiah was coming. The Messiah did not come, because the people rejected the Messiah. Peter and John had preached to Israel that if the people and rulers would understand that Jesus was the Messiah, and cry out to God to send Him back, He would have come back at that time (Acts 3:11-26)" (8). Although many Christians through the ages have persecuted Jews, believing this to be God's will, today evangelicals are Israel's best friends. The Bible promises and history records that God blesses those nations that bless Israel and curses (punishes) those that curse her. This book will discuss how America has (unwittingly?) "conspired with Israel's enemies ... for political or material advantage ... [and how] God has given us severe warnings" (10).
Preface (thru ch6, then ch12-3 by John)
"Today, the Muslim nations who have persuaded the world powers to help in the 'land for peace' plan are closing in on Israel ... The Scriptures indicate that the world will side with the Arab nations and that God will stand with Israel ... In Zech. 12:9, the Bible also says clearly that those who come against Israel will be destroyed" (12). Even many Christian organizations (WCC, NCC, RCC) have supported 'land for peace,' mistakenly believing "they have replaced Israel in significance, rather than being grafted in with the Jews (Rom. 11:11-24)" (12). "The US sponsored the Madrid, Oslo, Wye, Tenet, and Mitchell plans ... all contrary to the Word of God" (12) because they promote 'land for peace.' God's judgment is coming.
1: Is the Bible the Word of God? (Yes!)
In Genesis, God gave Abraham and his descendants the land of Israel (Gen. 15:18, 17:7-8, see map) and attached a blessing/curse (Gen. 12:3). A key point here is that God gave this land to Abraham forever, and that Abraham "was not required to do anything but to believe God" (19, which he did). "About 500 yrs after Abraham, God made a second covenant ... giving the law to Moses ... This covenant was conditional and based upon the requirements of the law being met by the nation" (21, Ex 19:5). "The Bible and history record that Israel failed to keep ... the second covenant and was cast into the nations" (23, Deut 28:64, 30:1, Lev 26:32-3). But God also promised to one day restore the people to their land. In chosing the Jews, God wanted to 1) reveal Himself 2) bring forth His prophets and give humanity the Bible (Rom. 3:2) 3) provide a light for surrounding pagans (Is. 43:12) 4) a line for the Messiah (Is. 9:6-7) and a place for Him to be born (Micah 5:2). But its important to see that "the Jews are no different than any other people when it comes to sin ... If God had chosen any other people to work through, the result would have been the same ... [they] would have also failed" (23, Jer 17:9). The restoration of Israel is "an awesome witness to the authority of the Bible as the Word of God" (24). "The theme of the dispersion and restoration of the nation of Israel is one of the major focuses in the Bible" (26, others are the coming of the Messiah, the day of the Lord, the messianic age, and heaven and hell). Examples are Is. 11:11-12, 43:5-6, Jer. 31:8-10, 16:14-5, Ez. 36:19,24,28, 37:1-12,21,25, Zech. 2:12, 8:7-8,22, 12:6, Joel 3:20.
2: Times of the Gentiles (i.e. rule over Jerusalem)
God decreed that the Jews would be "trodden down [by] the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (35, Luke 21:24). These "times" began in 606 BC when Nebuchadnezzar first conquered Jerusalem. The city was ruled by Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman empires (later Ottoman). But on 14 May 1948, through UN action, Israel once again became an independent nation (the day before, Gen. George Marshall had wired David Ben-Gurion that a 5-nation attack would follow any declaration of independence and that "within 48 hrs not one Jew in the land would be left alive" 7). Interestingly, the Babylonian destruction of the first Temple and the Roman destruction of the 2nd occurred on the same day (the 9th of Av, Jul/Aug), 655 yrs apart (37). To this day, the 9th of Av is a day of mourning for Jews. Hosea (c750 BC) foretold "that Israel will suffer a long time without a king and priesthood, but in the latter days they would return to the land" (37, Hos. 3:4-5, Question: do the Jews today have a High Priest again? A King? [PM or President], the "destruction of the priesthood began in 70 AD and continues to this day" 37, I guess eventually God will be their king and Jesus their HP).
3: This Land That Was Desolate
"The worldwide [Jewish] dispersion began in the year 70 ... In 136, the Roman army crushed the second revolt ... even changed the name of the area to Philestina ... [the origin of] the modern name Palestine ... The covenant of God was fulfilled. The nation was destroyed and the Jews had been scattered into all the world ... [but] a remnant of Jews always lived on the land. Jerusalem was never the capital of another nation" (39). Judea and Jerusalem were then ruled by (40):
1) Romans til 400s (fall of Rome)
2) Byzantines til 638 (captured by Muslims)
3) Muslim caliphs til 1072
4) Seljukes (i.e. Turks) til 1096
5) Crusaders til 1291
6) Mamelukes til 1516
7) Ottoman Turks til 1918
8) British til 14 May 1948 (given Mandate by League of Nations)
9) Jewish independance til present
Israel recaptured Jerusalem in the 1967 war and (re)named Jerusalem as its capital (Tel Aviv before) in July 1980. "The land was invaded by the Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, Kurds, Mamelukes, Mongols, Tartars, Crusaders, Turks, French and British ... There was never another " (40). "The modern rebirth of the nation can be traced to the 1880s. Pogroms in Russia against the Jews started a trickle migration seeking peace in Israel. In the 1890s, a trial [the Dreyfus affair] in France triggered the modern Zionist movement ... spark[ing] the return of Jews in great numbers back to Israel ... Theodor Herzl, a Jewish journalist from Switzerland, covered this trial ... [noted the anti-Semitism and] In 1896, Herzl published his book The Jewish State: A Modern Solution to the Jewish Question ... call[ing] for the creation of a Jewish state, and leading to the founding of the Zionist Organization. The first Zionist Congress met in 1897 ... By Nov 1917 it was apparent that the Turks [who controlled Palestine] were going to be defeated by the British ... [in response to Zionist pleading] Arthur James Balfour issued what is now the famous Balfour Declaration [2 Nov 1917] indicating that 'His majesty's Govt view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people' ... On 9 Dec 1917, British general Edmund Allenby captured Jerusalem ... The Turks retreated ... w/o firing a shot ... For the first time in over 600 yrs the land was no longer under the control of Islamic nations" (40-2). Muslims refused to recognize Israel and rioted throughout the 1920-30s. This Arab/Muslim pressure on Britain sought reduction in the land grant and restriction on Jewish immigration to Israel. Both demands continue to this day.
Some additional information is helpful here, from Paul Johnson's A History of the Jews (1987). Although Britain initially support creation of Israel, Muslim pressure (using Britain's need for their oil) lead by 1939 to Britain's "White Paper" policy severely limiting Jewish immigration to Israel, in effect "repudiating the Balfour Declaration" (520). Britain wanted Jewish help defeating the Nazis but opposed a "coherent [military] unit" (520), fearing its later use in shaping Palestine. "After the [El] Alamein victory late in 1942 removed the German threat from the Middle East, British HQ there looked with suspicion on any Jewish military activity. But the Jews had one powerful defender: Churchill" (520). "Among the Jews there were 3 schools of thought about the British. Weizmann still believed in British good faith. Ben Gurion, though skeptical, wanted to win [WWII] first. Even after it he drew an absolute distinction between resistance and terrorism, and this was refected in Haganah policy ... [Menachem] Begin took a 3rd course ... reject[ing] assassination but [blowing] up [various British targets]" (522). Johnson says this was "yet another Jewish contribution to the shape of the modern world: the scientific use of terror to break the will of liberal rulers ... its most accomplished practitioner was Menachem Begin" (521). Begin "saw the enemy not as Britain but the British administration in Palestine. He wanted to humiliate it; make it unworkable, expensive, ineffective" (522). "Begin was a leading figure in 2 episodes which were instrumental in inducing Britain to quit" (523). These were the 22 Jul 1946 bombing of the King David Hotel (killing 28 Brits, 41 Arabs, 17 Jews, 5 others) and leading (Labor Foreign Sec'y Ernest) Bevin to hand Palestine over to the UN (14 Feb 1947). The 2nd was when Irgun decided to do to British what they were doing to them; hang and flog prisoners. On 29 Jul 1947, after 3 Irgun men were hanged, 2 Brits were hanged in retribution a few hours later. This led to outraged anti-Semitism in Britain and a British decision to exit quickly. "Thus Begin's policy succeeded, but it involved appalling risks" (524). "It is impossible to point to any powerful economic interest, in either Britain or the US, which pushed for the creation of Israel. In both countries, the overwhelming majority of her [Israel's] friends were on the left" (525). FDR opposed it but he died, leaving Truman who supported it. Stalin was initially for it, but later (by Jan 1948) turned more anti-Semitic, so "Israel slipped into existence through a fortuitous window in history which briefly opened for a few months in 1947-8" (526). Johnson notes several cases where either "luck or providence" was involved with Israel's recreation. Then later, in his Epilogue, Johnson writes: Historians should beware of seeking providential patterns in events. They are all too easily found, for we are credulous creatures, born to believe, and equipped with powerful imaginations which readily produce and rearrange data to suit any transcendental scheme. Yet excessive skepticism can produce as serious a distortion as credulity" (586). He goes on to conclude that either God really has guided Israel and the Jews or perhaps their strong belief of God's guidance has produced these amazing results.
Following WWII the UN was created. "In 1947, the UN voted to partition Palestine into 2 sections. Jordan was for the Arabs and Israel was for the Jews ... By 1948, there were ~600K Jews in Israel" (43). In summary, WWI broke the Islamic hold on Judea and WWII motivated European Jews to go there in huge numbers. 14 May 1948 5 Arab nations (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia) attacked Israel but were defeated after several months, leaving Israel with about 8000 square miles, the size of NJ. In May 1967, Egypt and Syria "mobilized their armies and threatened to attack Israel" (44), but on 5 June, Israel attacked and crushed both armies in the "Six Day War." On the last day, Jordan attacked, losing east Jerusalem and "the West Bank." In 1973, Syria and Egypt again attacked Israel in the surprise "Yom Kippur War." Israel was nearly defeated, but fought back. "When a truce was declared, the Israeli army was advancing on both Cairo and Damascus" (45). "The [Syrian] attacks on Israel from Lebanon caused war in the 1980s. There was rioting and terrorist attacks by the Palestinians in the 1980s-90s. On 28 Sep 2000, fighting broke out in Jerusalem" (45) when general Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount. This low-grade war continues to this day and has the potential to ignite worldwide conflict.
4: The Latter Day Is Today (i.e. Ez. 38:8)
The author here emphasizes we are now in those "latter days."
5: Israel: God's Anvil
"The Bible states that the last great world war [Armageddon] will be over Jerusalem. All the nations of the world will be drawn to Jerusalem. God is going to use Jerusalem as an anvil against [i.e. to break them] the nations of the world" (52). "With the rebirth of Israel and Jerusalem the capital, this nation becomes an anvil for false views of God and Bible doctrine. Most religions of the world do not recognize God's covenant over the land of Israel. Some [even Christians, with 'replacement' or 'covenant' theology, but see Jer. 31:35-7] believe the Jews had a covenant, but [it] is no longer in effect. God is using Israel to now show the literalness of [vindicate] His Word ... The Koran fails to mention Jerusalem even once [although Muslims claim it as their '3rd holiest site'!] ... Jerusalem is mentioned 811 times in the Bible" (53). "It is very serious to be on the wrong side of God when He is defending His everlasting covenant" (55).
6: America: Blessed or Cursed? (50pp)
This is the heart of the book, presenting a long list of exact correlations between American diplomatic events forcing Israel to trade "land for peace" and natural disasters visited upon America. The "land for peace" policy was initiated by President Bush 41 on 30 October 1991 (at the Madrid peace conference, after his dazzling Gulf War victory) and continued until Sep 2000 (its still unclear whether Bush will seek to continue it). See Joel 3:1-2 and Zech. 12. "In 1993 the Madrid peace plan evolved into the Oslo accords ... [which] set a timetable for Israel's withdrawal from parts of the covenant land" (59). Later, the Mitchell Plan (named for frmr Sen. George Mitchell) requires "Israel to stop all building activity in the settlements in the West Bank and get back to the peace talks ... As America has pressured Israel to give away land, warning judgments have hit ... result[ing] in some of the greatest disasters in the nation's history" (60). The Bible warns that Israel/Jerusalem is the "apple of God's eye" and there will be swift punishment on anyone who touches it. Examples:
Nov 1991: Bush 41 gives his 30 Oct 1991 speech at Madrid calling for "land for peace." On that day, "The Perfect Storm" develops off Nova Scotia. Rare, since most storms originate in the tropics and travel west-to-east, this one originated in the North Atlantic and travelled 1000 miles east-to-west. 31 Oct it smashed into New England, damaging the entire East Coast and "heavily damaging" Bush's home in Kennebunkport, Maine. NYT Nov 1 shows front-page headline stories side by side.
Aug 1992: 23 Aug the Madrid peace talks move to Washington. On that day, Hurricane Andrew smashed into southern FL, becoming America's worst natural disaster, $30B damage. NYT 24 Aug shows front-page headline stories side by side. Also making headlines was Bush's collapsing poll ratings.
Sep 1993: NYT 1 Sep front-page headline Israel/PLO reach deal (i.e. Oslo, to be signed by Arafat/Rabin 13 Sep, 7yr deal to send Sep 2000) after meeting secretly in Europe. Side by side headline on Hurricane Emily, which had meandered for 5 days but then hit NC on the day of the Oslo agreement, light damage.
Jan 1994: 16 Jan Clinton meets w/Hafez Assad in Geneva. Less than 24 hrs later, a 6.9 earthquake rocks southern CA (Northridge). 2nd only to Hurricane Andrew (also correlated to abortion, gay and porn issues).
Mar-Apr 1997: 1 Mar Arafat arrives in Washington. Warm welcome by Clinton. Arafat tours America on speaking tour. Powerful tornados ravage Arkansas and flooding hits Ohio and Kentucky ($1B) and later (snowmelt) in the Dakotas ($1B). NYT 4 Mar shows front-page headline stories side by side. Also big stock market disuptions.
Jul 1997: 2 Jul Thailand devalues currency, sparking the worldwide economic crisis known as the Asian panic, spreading to America's 27 Oct 554 pt market crash. On 15 Jul the UN Gen Assbly again condemned Israel in its strongest resolution yet. America recovered quickly, but many other nations did not (many Asian, Russia, Brazil), none of those voted for Israel at the UN.
Jan 1998: 21 Jan Netanyahu meets w/Clinton, under tremendous pressure to give away land. Coldly received. Shortly after meeting on same day, Lewinsky scandal hits press. Spotlight off Israel and on Clinton (also correlates to anniversaries of Roe v. Wade and Clinton's reversals of abortion limitations on taking office 5 yrs earlier).
Sep 1998: 24 Sep Clinton announces Arafat and Netanyahu will come to NYC to discuss stalled peace plan. Same day headline announces that Hurricane Georges is gaining strength and heading toward the Gulf of Mexico. 27 Sep Albright meets w/Arafat, same day storm hits MS/FL, slowing down and dumping huge rains inland. 28 Sep Clinton meets w/both men, Arafat addresses UN, NYT headlines side by side on front page; 'Georges lingers' and 'Mideast talks back in motion.' When Arafat leaves US, Georges dissipates.
Oct 1998: 15-23 Oct Arafat and Netanyahu meet at Wye Plantation, MD. 17 Oct awesome rains and tornadoes hit E TX, continuing til 22 Oct ($1B). Natl papers show side by side front page headlines.
Nov 1998: 30 Nov nations agree to give Arafat $3B (US $400M), stock market crashes 216 pts. Side by side front page headlines.
Dec 1998: 12 Dec As House votes to impeach Clinton, Clinton arriving in Palestinian Israel (1rst by a US President). Side by side front page headlines.
Mar 1999: 23 Mar Arafat meets w/Clinton in Washington. Massive gay political activity across all 50 states. Stock market falls 219 pts (biggest drop in months). 24 Mar Clinton authorizes bombing Serbia. Russian military leaders say this is WWIII. 9 Jun 99 Serbia withdraws from Kosovo, defusing crisis, but longer term worsened relations between US and China, Russia (latter 2 enter military alliance). Author believes this alliance is a key destabilizing geopolitical event (but not yet recognized as such).
May 1999: 3 May most powerful tornado storms ever recorded hit OK and KS (multi billions). Storms hit 4:47 CST, which is 1am 4 May in Israel, just when Arafat was scheduled to declare a Palestinian state w/Jerusalem as capital. Postponed to Dec 99 at Clinton's request. On May 4 Clinton both declared parts of OK and KS disaster areas and sent a letter of encouragement to Arafat.
Sep 1999: late Aug early Sep Hurricane Dennis drenches East Coast, only Cat 2 but huge rains (important 2 weeks later at Floyd's arrival), finally hitting NC 3 Sep. 1 Sep Albright heads to Middle East to restart Wye, meeting Arafat/Barak 3 Sep. 13 Sep Israeli and Palestinian reps meet to hammer out Wye details, same day Hurricane Floyd suddenly strengthens to Cat 5 and on 16 Sep slams into NC, causing greatest evacuation in US history. Massive flooding resulted due to still-soaked (from Dennis) ground and huge rain of Floyd. Multi-billion damage, worst disaster to hit NC since Civil War. 3-day DJIA loss 504 pts (21-3 Sep, 1rst time 2 200 pt losses in 1 week) as Arafat visits Clinton 22 Sep.
Oct 1999: 11 Oct Jewish settlers in 15 West Bank settlements evicted. Same week DJIA loses 5.7%, worst week since Oct 89. Also, 15 Oct Hurricane Irene hits NC, 16 Oct a 7.1 Hector Mine earthquake rocks SW (epicenter in CA, most powerful earthquake in 20C America).
Jan 2000: 3-4 Jan Clinton meets w/Barak and Syrians to discuss returning Golan Hgts to Syria by end of week. 4 Jan Barak agrees to give away 5% of West Bank by end of week. 4 Jan stock market plummets (DJIA -359 pts, 4th worst day, Nasdaq -229, worst day, $600B loss). Hmmm, did these giveaways happen?
10 Mar 2000: Barak offers West Bank as Palestinian state. Nasdaq reaches all-time high of 5048.62, shortly after losing 3500 pts. 12 Apr mtgs of Clinton and Barak. 11-13 Apr Nasdaq collapse (618 pt loss for week). 16 Jun Clinton meets Arafat at White House. Same day DJIA loses 265 pts.
Jul-Aug 2000: 12-26 Jul Camp David talks, end in collapse over Jerusalem, although Clinton personally got involved suggesting ways to carve up the city. During mtgs, huge forest fires erupt in West, exploding in July and burning out of control in August, burning 7M acres. Also drought in TX.
Sep-Dec 2000: 28 Sep (Rosh Hashana) Ariel Sharon visits Temple Mount, sparking riots and low-grade war that continues to present. By end of Oct Barak's govt had collapsed. US elections 7 Nov, inconclusive, so both Israel and US experience political chaos, author says 'the country ... responsible for destabilizing Israel was itself destabilized' (93). Arafat came to Washington 9 Nov, during election meltdown, side by side headlines.
Jun 2001: 8-9 Jun massive rains in E TX, esp. Houston, produced by Tropical Storm Allison. Storm formed within 1 day in Gulf of Mexico, then headed into TX, hung around dumping rain. Catastrophic destruction ($3B Houston, $4B TX). Storm then moved to FL and East Coast, in 10 days dumping 1 yrs worth (for entire US) of rain. On 6 Jun Bush sent CIA Director George Tenet to Israel to broker a cease-fire and push the Mitchell Plan. This was the first real involvement of Bush 43 admin in the Middle East crisis. NYT 13 Jun featured both stories front-page.
To summarize, "the last 3 presidents have been personally touched at the exact time they were involved with forcing Israel [to give away] covenant land" (95).
11 Sep 2001: ~$40B damage and stunned the country. 9 Aug 2001 a suicide terrorist killed 19 Jews in Jerusalem. Bush condemned the attack but then "demanded that Israel abide by ... Madrid, Mitchell, UN Res 242 and 338" (97, calling for land for peace). 2 Oct news reported that the US had been ready to recognize a Palestinian state, but delayed due to 9/11.
Oct 2001: 2 Oct Bush states publicly for 1rst time he favors a Palestinian state, w/E Jerusalem its capital. Same day, anthrax attack begins in FL.
Nov 2001: 10 Nov UN mtg (had been delayed due to 9/11). Bush called for 2 states and UN res. 242 and 338. 11 Nov Arafat spoke to UN and Powell met w/him later that day. 9 Nov bin Laden threatened US w/WMD, Saddam Hussein did same on 11 Nov. 14 Nov Kabul captured. 12 Nov Am Air jet departing JFK crashed killing 265, about 15 miles from the site of Arafat's speech.
We could add here the interesting correlation of the Israeli evacuation of the Gaza strip (the week of Aug 22-26, 2005 right?, forced by the US or agreed by Sharon for defensibility reasons?) and the arrival of Hurricane Katrina the following Monday morning Aug 29. This storm flooded New Orleans and caused massive damage (still being tallied as of now 14 Sep 2005, $60B fed aid so far). Hurricane Ophelia to hit NC this evening or early Thursday ... any significant Israel developments?
7: Palestinian Cause in Proper Perspective (thru ch11 by Bill)
Most of this chapter is an extract from an article by Dr. Gary Frazier of Discovery Ministries, Arlington, TX (from the booklet In the Arab/Israeli Puzzle - Historical Fact vs. Fallacy). Summary: Palestinians say they want a state, but they really want the destruction of Israel. The land was never controlled by Palestinians, but most recently by Jordan, Syria and Egypt. God gave the land to Israel permanently. Jews have always been there as a remnant. Jewish presense has been the only constant. The idea that the Temple Mount is an Islamic holy site was fabricated later, the Koran is vague about Mohammed's departure site (Islamic expert Alfred Guildaume says it "outer mosque" refers to al-Girana on the outskirts of Medina 118).
8: The Ten-Year Peace Process
Although most Americans believe the US has "stood by Israel," our policy since 1991 has been to force them to give away land. "The US has prospered in the past, in spite of her social condition [i.e. abortion, gay activism, porn...], because this nation has been there to protect Israel, and because of her Christian heritage" (122). Bottom line, watch out America! Author says we've used Israel as insurance for our oil needs. He also discusses major world players in Mideast policies.
9: The Washington Connection
31 Mar 2001 forced landing of EP3 recon plan in China happened as Egypt and Jordan ldrs arrived in Washington for talks. Also Jeffords' 25 May switch from Rep to Ind (giving Senate to Dems) linked to Bush's 22 May support for Mitchell Plan. Dan Kurtzer nominated as ambassador to Israel (known land-for-peace advocate). 8 Jun Tenet hosted talks, same day catastrophic flooding in Houston, TX. In late May 2001, Arafat was "up against the ropes" (144) but Tenet sent to "bail him out" 8 Jun. Again in Sep, just before 9/11. Bush 43 seems to be in flux as to Israel (has announced he wants to stand by them), but Powell, Tenet and others strongly push land for peace (supported by Vatican, WCC, NCC, Episcopal, ELCA, United Methodist, Mennonite Central Committee, PCUSA, RCA, Unitarians, United Church of Christ, UN, EU, Arab League, China ...). Author praises Bush's "top shelf" staff and hopes they stop pressuring Israel to give land for peace. Jury still out.
10: The Role of the CFR (i.e. they've always pushed land for peace)
11: The World Comes Against Jerusalem
Author details the countries and organizations against Israel (demanding land for peace). In contrast, a few support Israel: Orthodox Jews, small number of reform/conservative Jews, Israeli settlers in disputed territories, fundamental (Bible-believing) Christians (180).
12: Jerusalem: A Burdensome Stone for the Nations (i.e. from Zech. 12:3)
"The Bible does not end with the rebirth of the nation of Israel ... [but adds that it] will be rejected and suffer war after war ... [but] 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 are minor compared to the future battles described in the Bible ... The end will come when God directly intervenes for Israel against the actions of mankind ... The Bible describes at least 3 future wars [Gog-Magog, Armageddon, what's the 3rd?]... the last, known as Armageddon, involves all the nations of the world ... [and will] kill 1/3 of mankind [Zech 14:1-2, Joel 3:2, Rev 9:14-8]" (191-2). The author believes "the fuse was lit" 28 Sep 2000 when General Sharon visited the Temple Mount, igniting the Muslim Al-Aksa intifada. McTernan sees 9/11 as an an escalation of this conflict ("WWIII" 193). The author emphasizes that the key is Jerusalem, which is exactly the "sticking point" in Israeli/Palestinian negotiations. "The nations Egypt, Iraq, and Syria are all identified in the Bible to be destroyed" (196). The "Day of the Lord" is a major biblical prophetic theme and includes God's "intervention in the affairs of man in one last attempt to reach man before eternal judgment" (198), the 2nd Coming of Christ, Final Judgment and the 1000-yr reign. The judgement part is in 2 phases; incredible wars culminating in Armageddon (7-10 yrs) and worldwide natural disasters. It will be grim with human brutality, "the heart of man will be exposed to show how evil it is with wars and killing on a scale never before seen. God will let man's evil heart have its way, and then bring judgment on the actions. Through it all God always has the way of salvation open to Him" (199). The conditions for these fearsome but awesome events are (200):
- Israel reborn (check)
- Jewish return (partial, c1985 13.5M total, 1) US 5.8M 2) Israel 3.5M 3) Russia 1.8M 4) France 700K, W Europe 1.25M, HotJ p560)
- Jerusalem capital of Israel (Israel moved it there from Tel-Aviv in 1980, but not yet officially recognized by most nations)
- Israel a great military power (mostly)
- nations of the world reject her (mostly)
- Russia a major military power (hmmm)
- Asia able to field an army of 200M (can-do)
- Israel the subject of horrific wars (hmmm)
Most nations already reject Israel (e.g. many UN votes equating Zionism with racism). "The so-called Christian nations are in deep apostasy" (201). "America took a huge turn in Oct 2001 by stating the US would recognize a Palestinian state with E Jerusalem as the capital" (202). If the US should withdraw its support of Israel (by e.g. forcing it into 'land for peace') the stage would be set for the endgame, "Israel would be left to trust only on God for its survival" (202).
13: The Third War - Armageddon
"For Bible prophecy about the war of Gog-Magog and Armageddon to be fulfilled, something has to have happened to the world power and influence of the US" (205) [or its intentions turn against Israel]. As it now stands, America could and would block any attempt by Russia or China to lead Asia against Israel (i.e. "from the north" as prophesied). But what if America's power or its will to defend Israel were broken? The author fears that, because of America's immorality (abortion, homosexuality, porn ...) and its 1991-on policy of forcing Israel into 'land for peace,' God is preparing to "remove America from being a world power" (206).
"The authority of the Bible can be seen with the nation of Israel ... What people are like the Jews [i.e. persevering over millenia] and what nation like Israel [i.e. reborn, unlike the 'mighty' human empires, even after 586 BC, 70 AD]? What book is like the Bible [i.e. predicting all these things millenia in advance]?" (210). Maranatha [He is coming]!
Other books by McTernan/Koenig:
- God's Final Warning to America by John McTernan (a complete study of the disasters related to abortion and homosexuality)