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[0:00] Well, thank you all for being here this morning. The content today that we're going to be considering will be, I can't say it'll be actually different, but it's going to be presented in a different manner because I've never really done what we're going to do this morning in that I am simply going to read and read with you following along, consulting the various references as we go, the content that is here before you in the printed page that you have.

[0:32] It's entitled Fruit from the Fruit. And he's called the Fruit because of his name, which is Fruchtenbaum. And Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum was the gentleman who led our group, as he did every three years, to the Holy Land.

[0:53] And we were there in 1990 and spent six weeks there. We spent, in fact, over 2,000 miles on the van in those six weeks when you consider that Israel was and is no larger than the state of New Jersey.

[1:11] And to put 2,000 miles on your van while you're traveling in that small of a complex is quite remarkable. We went up and down and back and forth and sideways and every which way you can imagine.

[1:23] And because of our special status and traveling with the small vans that only held 10 passengers, we were greatly advantaged to the average tour group that was limited to just a few select places traveling in those massive tour buses that could accommodate about 80 people.

[1:45] So we got into a lot of places where tourists never get to. We saw a lot of things. But most of all, we got content and we got teaching from someone who has been described as probably the most knowledgeable individual regarding ancient and modern Israel who is alive today.

[2:06] And that's Dr. Fruchtenbaum. He spent a year or two at Cedarville. Went to Dallas and got a degree there, a theology degree there. And went to New York University and got his Ph.D.

[2:19] And he has written a number of books, articles, pamphlets that have been circulated throughout the world. Dr. Fruchtenbaum was born in Siberia into an Orthodox Jewish family.

[2:34] And at the age of approximately 18 or 20, he came to faith in Jesus Christ and began a very intensive investigation of the scriptures.

[2:47] He is very proficient in both Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic. He is a scholar of international repute and respect. And Dr. Fruchtenbaum stands about 5'3 or 5'4, something like that.

[3:02] But he has a scriptural and a biblical stature. That's probably 10 feet tall. That's my estimation of the man.

[3:14] And we are going to benefit from an article that I found in my piling system as I was going through it.

[3:25] I remember seeing this and just briefly scanning it probably 10 years ago. And I laid it aside thinking, this is good, but there will probably be a more opportune time for this than now.

[3:44] And there is. And it is today. In light of what is going on in our world and in our culture, I thought this article would be very, very fitting.

[3:58] And it is entitled, The Sequence of Pre-Tribulational Events. The question raised so very often is, are we living in the last days?

[4:15] Invariably, the answer is yes. But when asked, how do we know, the answers tend to be rather general and based on present-day crises, particularly on those current events affecting the United States.

[4:31] In this area, many newspaper exegetes have had a field day proclaiming almost every major world event to be a partial fulfillment of prophecy and another proof that these are indeed the last days.

[4:49] However, this is a very dangerous practice. Prophecy must first be determined from the scriptures and then applied to current events rather than taking current events and forcing them to fit some kind of scriptural passage.

[5:07] Only after one's eschatology, and eschatology is just a big 25-cent theological word that refers to the doctrine of last things.

[5:19] It comes from the word eschatos, which means last, and the ology, of course, means the study of, and it simply means the study or consideration of last things.

[5:30] That's the meaning of eschatology. And then he continues in saying, only after one's eschatology has been developed exegetically, which means taking the scriptures into account verse by verse, should current events be taken into account to determine if any are fulfilling prophecy.

[5:53] And only if the current events fit the demands of scripture perfectly are these events to be identified as fulfillment of prophecy.

[6:05] Nevertheless, we know that we are living in the last days because certain pre-tribulational events have been fulfilled.

[6:20] And if you will open your Bibles, if you don't have them there already open, to Matthew 24, let's look at the text that he is talking about here. In the first eight verses of Matthew 24, it is referred to as the Olivet Discourse simply because Jesus was on the Mount of Olives when he delivered this message.

[6:42] And it consists of two chapters. In its length, it is extended, it is not as lengthy as the Sermon on the Mount, but it is the most lengthy portion that we have that is related to eschatology or future things.

[7:01] And I'm reading now from Matthew 24, beginning with verse one, and this happens to be the New American Standard. Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when his disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to him.

[7:18] And by the way, chronologically, keep in mind that this portion in Matthew 24 immediately precedes, by a very short period of time, our Lord's arrest and his subsequent crucifixion.

[7:33] So this is, his earthly ministry is really winding down. His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to him. And by the way, they were still under construction.

[7:45] This had not been completed yet, and it would not be completed. It would not actually be completed in everything that was to be appointed to it until sometime later, but it is under construction and no doubt they had all the materials and things lying around and the stones to be fitted and so on.

[8:10] And his disciples were pointing out the temple buildings to him, no doubt marveling over their magnificence and their size and all the rest of it. And Jesus answered and said to them, Do you not see all these things?

[8:25] Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another which will not be torn down. And keep in mind that some of them hadn't even been erected yet.

[8:41] And as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, Tell us. When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?

[8:54] And he had already talked to them about leaving and returning earlier. And as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him. And I just read that.

[9:05] Verse 4. Jesus answered and said to them, See to it that no one misleads you. And the implication of that is given in the next verse. And he as much as says there will be many who will attempt to do that, it will come in my name saying, I am the Messiah, I am the Christ, and will mislead many.

[9:25] That's already happened. It happened under the Bar Kokhba revolt. And in Israel, in the year about 140, when Simon Bar Kokhba, a militant Jew, came on the scene and announced himself to be the Messiah.

[9:43] And many people believed that he was. And his game plan was to attack the Romans and drive them out because they continued to occupy Israel.

[9:57] And of course, it was met with a disastrous defeat. And as a result of the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Romans came again against Jerusalem, having destroyed it earlier, 70 years earlier in 70 AD.

[10:12] They destroyed what was left again, leveled it, even changed the name of Jerusalem to Capalatina, gave it a Roman name, and erected signs all around saying that no Jew would be permitted beyond this place under penalty of death.

[10:31] And thousands under the Bar Kokhba revolt were led into captivity, sold as slaves to the Romans, carried back to Rome, and they were dispersed all throughout again through the Mediterranean world.

[10:43] And that was the last great scattering. So, that's what is coming. And in verse 6, we read, you will hear, you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars.

[10:57] See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. And then the implication is, there are some other things that are going to happen before the end, and they begin with verse 7.

[11:12] For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.

[11:26] But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Now, if you will look at his explanation of this on the sheet that you've been provided under World Wars 1 and 2, Dr. Fruchtenbaum offers, Christ reveals in verses 7 and 8, the one event that will indicate that the end of the age has begun.

[11:59] This sign is said to be when nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. It is clearly stated that these things are the beginning of travail.

[12:15] Throughout the prophetic portions of Scripture, the end days are pictured by the word travail, which means birth pangs. It is synonymous with a woman who is in labor wanting to be delivered of her child, called birth pangs, as he goes on to explain.

[12:36] So the closing days of this age will bring a series of birth pangs before giving birth to the new age of the kingdom.

[12:46] It is crucial to understand the cultural and historical meaning of the idiom. And an idiom, of course, is an expression that is used and that is coined by a particular people in a particular geography in a particular time.

[13:09] Every nation and every civilization has its idioms. An idiom is an expression or a saying that everybody in a particular area is familiar with.

[13:23] Like, can anybody think right offhand of an idiom? Give me an idiom, someone. Y'all. Pardon? Y'all. Well, okay, y'all. That's an idiom down south.

[13:34] That's an idiom. What about a penny saved is a penny earned. That's an idiom. Why should youth be spent on the old?

[13:45] Or something like that. You know, that's an idiom. All kinds of expressions like that, they usually mean nothing to people who aren't familiar in that culture with the thing. Like, well, we could go on and name dozens of them and I'm sure you could too.

[13:59] So he's talking about an idiom here and the idea is, this particular idiom is that nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. taken in the Jewish context of Jesus' day, which is the way it must be interpreted, not even in the Jewish context of today, but historically in the day of our Lord.

[14:23] This expression points to a total conflict in the area in view. This idiom is found in two Old Testament passages in Isaiah 19 verses 1 through 4.

[14:39] I don't know that we need to turn to it, but we can if you want to examine it later. The idiom points to a conflict all over the land of Egypt as the nation is engrossed in civil war.

[14:54] In 2 Chronicles 15 verses 1 through 7, the Middle East is in view and the idiom describes a conflict throughout that area.

[15:05] Back to Matthew 24. Now it is clear from verses 14, 21, 30, and 31 that the entire world is in view.

[15:23] Hence, the idiom refers to a worldwide conflict, the first birth pang signifying that the last days have begun.

[15:37] World War I waged from 1914 to 1918. And by the way, it was not called World War I.

[15:49] Does anybody, well you wouldn't remember, neither do I. It was called, yeah, it was called the Great War. Why do you suppose it was given that name? It was bigger than any war.

[16:01] Yeah, absolutely. It was a war, a conflict, the magnitude of which had never been equaled in nations warring against each other before.

[16:14] And history is replete with national conflict. I mean, the Mideast in particular is rife with wars all over the place.

[16:25] And the same way with Europe. There have been so many wars in Europe and nation against nation and so on. But it was not until the Great War that what you could appropriately call the whole globe was engulfed.

[16:42] Everybody was impacted one way or another. A continuation of World War I, most historians agree that World War II was in effect a continuation of World War I.

[16:57] And there was one person in particular for whom that was absolutely true and he let it be known. Anybody know who we're talking about? Pardon? Hitler? Yeah.

[17:08] Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler considered the outbreak of World War II for which he was very instrumental as being nothing more than an occasion for Germanic revenge to be visited upon those who had defeated Germany in the Great War.

[17:29] And in essence it wasn't that many years after if you recall because he came to power in the 1930s and it was only a decade or so involved in the meanwhile. And then of course when World War II broke out nobody referred to World War I as the Great War anymore.

[17:46] they just automatically started calling it World War I. And now as of 19 I guess you'd say as of 1941 December 7 that's when we consider World War II really having gotten underway although it actually began earlier than that.

[18:05] But that's what we that's the point that we figure from. These global wars were the first of the events leading up to the tribulation period.

[18:20] And that is referred to as a time of great distress great tribulation great anguish great deprivation great numbers of people killed during this time this tribulation.

[18:39] It is called that and we'll go on to see that later. Item B here under this article the reestablishment of Israel. Amazingly some Christians have concluded that the present state of Israel has nothing to do with the fulfillment of prophecy.

[18:57] The issue that bothers so many who hold this view is that not only have the Jews returned in unbelief with regard to the person of Jesus but the majority of those who have returned are not even Orthodox Jews.

[19:16] Now an Orthodox Jew is a Jew who observes the law of Moses essentially at least in most parts. You may be sure that it would be a male a Jew who is a male would certainly be circumcised or otherwise he couldn't even be considered a bona fide Jew.

[19:35] And they would of course keep a kosher diet which eliminates certain kind of food products and they would strictly observe the Sabbath which begins sundown Friday until sundown Saturday and so on.

[19:48] And out of the millions of people out of the millions of Jews who live in Israel today about 15% consider themselves Orthodox.

[20:02] They are the ones who regularly observe the Sabbath and so on keep the laws of Moses and so on and so forth. And the vast majority of them describe themselves by saying I am Jewish I am not a religious Jew and they simply mean that they are a Jew by heritage and by birth and that's the thing that makes them a Jew.

[20:24] And very few of them will go to the synagogue on the Sabbath and when they do show up it is usually for a wedding or a bar mitzvah or a funeral and that's about the only time they show.

[20:41] Continuing on with the article he says the majority of those that are returned are not Orthodox. Certainly then Israel could not possibly fulfill the biblical passages dealing with the return of a regenerated nation according to these proponents.

[20:57] the problem with this belief is the failure to see that the prophets spoke of two international returns. First there was to be a regathering in unbelief in preparation for judgment namely the tribulation period.

[21:18] And for that we ought to go to Ezekiel chapter 20. So let's go to our Bibles please and look at Ezekiel chapter 20. Scripture in question begins with verse 33 Ezekiel 20 and verse 33 As I live declares the Lord God speaking through the prophet Ezekiel surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I shall be king over you and I shall bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out.

[22:17] Now the return kind of sounds like good news but it isn't particularly good news. And I shall bring you into the wilderness of the peoples and there I shall enter into judgment with you face to face as I entered into judgment with your fathers and that would not be the immediate preceding generation but he's talking about your forefathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt and that clearly defines it so I will enter into judgment with you declares the Lord God and I shall make you pass under the rod and I shall bring you into the bond of the covenant and I shall purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against me I shall bring them out of the land where they sojourn but they will not enter the land of

[23:21] Israel thus you will know that I am the Lord all right let's continue on and in well while we're at it let's go to the next chapter the next reference get as full of pictures as possible chapter 22 and verse 17 Ezekiel 22 17 and we'll read through verse 22 and the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man the house of Israel has become dross to me anybody know what dross is scum yeah scum it's the off scouring of something that has been purified so you take the impurities and set them aside separate from the good stuff and the impurities are the dross so he continues saying the house of Israel has become dross to me all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace they are dross of silver therefore thus says the Lord

[24:36] God because all of you have become dross therefore behold I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem as they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it so I shall gather you in my anger and in my wrath and I shall lay you there and melt you and I shall gather you and blow on you the fire of my wrath and you will be melted in the midst of it as silver is melted in the furnace so you will be melted in the midst of it and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath on you this is what Israel has coming and it is in retribution for their unbelief and for their rejection of their ancestors and their continued ongoing rejection century after century in connection with the death birth and resurrection of

[25:54] Christ now in Zephaniah chapter 2 let's go there if we may please the minor prophets everybody's got it but me come on Zeph well I know I'm using a bible I'm not that familiar with but finally okay Zephaniah chapter 2 verse 1 gather yourselves together yes gather oh nation without shame therefore the decree takes effect the day passes like the chaff before the burning anger of the

[26:54] Lord comes upon you before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you all right back to our text this was to be followed by a second worldwide regathering in faith in preparation for blessing namely the messianic age and for that we have to go to Isaiah 11 and chapter 11 or verse 11 Isaiah 11 11 this is just one more example of the necessity for the right division of the word is it not it's just one of the many ways it's divided verse 11 and then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with his hand the remnant of his people who remain now that's a very important clue the remnant remnant is not the greater body is not the majority the remnant is what's left over the remnant is a minority in comparison to the majority it's just the few the relative few on on on that day that the

[28:24] Lord will again recover the second time with his hand the remnant of his people who will remain from Assyria Egypt and from the islands of the sea and he will lift up a standard for the nations and will assemble the banished ones of Israel and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth and we'll see that coming up later in chapter 24 of Matthew as we prepare to go back there and I'll be continuing on with the article that he has written thus 1948 marked another birth pang of the last days the restoration of the Jewish state is the fulfillment of those prophecies that spoke of a regathering in unbelief in preparation for judgment and when he talks about another birth pang that's symbolic of the fact that when a woman enters into labor now you realize of course

[29:39] I'm not speaking from experience I just know what the ladies have told me but when they enter into labor it is never just one birth pang and that's it it's pain after pain after pain they call them contractions and they are very painful and it's it's the push push you know thing and each time that is another another step closer to the actual realization of what's going on which of course will be the delivery and the birth of the baby but there may be several birth pangs involved depending on the nature of the labor so you gals can speak to that with some authority I'm sure so keeping in mind what he's saying here let me lose my place here is a fulfillment of prophecies that spoke of a regathering in unbelief and preparation for judgment it's another event leading up to the tribulation and so sets the stage for several other pre tribulation events in fact in terms of the nine events leading up to the tribulation each event sets the stage for its succeeding event the reestablishment of

[31:01] Israel arose out of world wars one and two world war one gave the impetus to the growth of the Zionist movement and world war two affected world sentiment to allow the establishment of a Jewish state in Israel the Zionist movement is a political movement that was actually founded by Theodor Herzl H E R Z Y L Theodor Herzl and I think I think Luzon Switzerland in 1898 and there he advocated that Hebrew should be the name the official name of the Jews and of course they were speaking all kinds of languages and most of the Jews throughout the world were speaking a hodgepodge called Yiddish and he recommended that they return to the biblical language of

[32:06] Hebrew which they do which they did and the Jews today speak biblical Hebrew in their daily conversation just like you and I speak English Hebrew is their actual language and that was the beginning of what is called Zionism and it is given the name Zionist or Zionism because Zion is the name of the hill on which the temple was built and it is called Mount Zion and it is the uppermost part there in Jerusalem the third pre tribulational event involves the Jewish control of Jerusalem the fact that the Jewish state had to exist before the tribulation does not necessarily require the total Jewish control of Jerusalem and in fact we know that's what happened following the Israeli war of independence 1948 1949 which was a war that they never should have won it was a war that was designed to it was a war that was designed to produce the stillbirth of

[33:27] Israel because whereas they were given international authority to return to the land and to reestablish the land of Israel they were surrounded by seven Arab nations who determined that that was not going to happen and it was then in fact it was then that the league of Arab nations primarily Jordan and Egypt and well there were several they were all around them were going to simply annihilate Israel and they got on radio and announced to all of the Arab people living in Israel leave leave Israel leave Jerusalem get out go anywhere you want but get out because the Arab conglomerate is going to come in and annihilate the

[34:29] Jews that are there and reclaim the land for Palestine and you would be in great danger so leave and they did tens of thousands of them left and that was in 1948 and their children and grandchildren are those who are now occupying the Gaza Strip because they never did get back Israel Israel was supposed to lose that war and they were all going to return but Israel didn't lose so everything changed so they didn't return although most people don't realize it but there are many Arabs now living in Israel and many of them are citizens of Israel and there are Muslim Arabs in political office in Israel and some of them occupy seats in the Knesset which is quite dramatic when you consider what's taking place alright so let's go on

[35:32] Israeli forces were in control of western Jerusalem the newer Jewish section the old city of Jerusalem the biblical city fell into the hands of the Jordanian legion which was later annexed into the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan Jerusalem thus became a divided city and remained that way for the next 19 years so Israel was occupying what was referred to as the west Jerusalem and the newer section the I'm sorry Israeli forces were in control of west Jerusalem the newer Jewish section and the old city of Jerusalem which is where the biblical city and the mosque of Omar is fell into the hands of the Jordanian legion and was later annexed into the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan and it remained that way for the next 19 years nevertheless prophetically speaking the old city of

[36:41] Jerusalem had to fall under Jewish control this can be deduced from the prophecies dealing with the third Jewish temple sometimes known as the tribulation temple now it does not exist what is on that site is referred to as the mosque of Omar and it was built by Muslim caliphs and it is right over what is referred to as the dome of the rock it is right over the rock and most historians and scholars believe that the rock over which the dome was built is also the rock where Abraham offered Isaac in sacrifice on that very spot Mount Zion now the Muslim interpretation of that of course is that that is the very spot from which

[37:44] Mohammed ascended to heaven on his horse from that spot that's the Muslim interpretation of the dome of the rock so let's look at this if we may there are four passages of scripture that describe a specific mid tribulation event regarding the tribulation temple and the first is in Daniel chapter 9 and verse 27 it's a passage that we've looked at somewhat extensively in the past it's connection with Daniel 70 weeks and it's a very strategic passage to be sure Daniel's gospel or Daniel's prophecy chapter chapter 9 and it's in reference to the 70th week and in particular we'll be looking at verse 27 Daniel 9 and verse 27 and he this is referring to the prince that shall come and that is not

[38:52] Jesus that is the antichrist he the antichrist will make a firm covenant that firm covenant means it's going to be official it's going to be accepted and it'll probably be acclaimed worldwide as a wonderful breakthrough and a good thing a firm covenant with the many for one week and that one week is not seven days it's seven years you can't imagine making a covenant of peace for seven days anyway but this is for seven years but in the middle of the week which means three and one half years into it he will the same he is in verse 27 earlier he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering and that simply means that part of the covenant part of one of the features of the covenant will be the agreement for the

[39:57] Jewish people to resume their worship there on that temple area which will also include the old animal sacrifices that were practiced under the Levitical law when Israel was in occupation of the temple and so on so this is like a return to Judaism and the sacrificial system and you can imagine the Jewish people are going to be euphoric over this this is going to be the most wonderful thing that has ever happened it will be Israel really returning to the land return to Judaism the animal sacrifice the whole nine yards and it's going to look like such a positive wonderful benefit that virtually everybody is going to rejoice and give a sigh of relief over it but we are told that in the middle of the week three and a half weeks into it three and a half years into it he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate desolate that is who destroys even until a complete destruction one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate in other words the desolator is also going to be destroyed but he's going to wreak a lot of damage and do a lot of desolation before his end comes all right let's take the next reference let's see where we are now getting ahead of myself yeah 24 15

[41:48] Matthew 24 and verse 15 we're I'm deliberately avoiding all the surrounding references for time sake but we just I want to get through this in one sitting verse 15 Jesus is speaking and says therefore when you see the abomination of desolation that's what we were just talking about in Daniel it means the abomination of destruction it means the abomination refers to the vile one the contaminated one the filthy one and that of course will be the antichrist which was spoken of through Daniel Daniel the prophet where we just were standing in the holy place let the reader understand now the holy place is a sacred place the holy place is the holy of holies in the temple and no one was permitted in the holy place sometimes it's called the most holy place separated from the holy place which is on the other side of the curtain the most holy place is that place where the ark of the covenant was kept where the high priest would enter once a year not without blood for the sacrifice of himself and for the sacrifice of the people of Israel this is the day of atonement that he would enter into this particular area in other words the most holy place is reserved for deity for God

[43:30] God said he would meet with his people there between the overarching cherubim on the lid or the the top of the mercy seat that he would meet with them there and there they were to come once a year not without blood and the high priest had to be the high priest no one else was allowed in there no one else ever saw the place except the high priest once a year this is the place where the antichrist is going to situate himself and the claim that he's going to make is I am right where I belong I am God and he will proclaim himself to be deity this is going to be just one more I guess you'd say one more birth pain all of these things are the beginning he says then and of course the time to flee is then verse 16 when he says as much as get out of dodge quickly alright back to our text 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4 2 Thessalonians 2 3 and 4

[45:01] Paul said let no one in any way deceive you and the implication is there will be efforts to do that but don't fall for it let no one in any way deceive you for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and this apostasy has reference to the departure or the falling away and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction he's the very one of whom we just spoke that will declare himself verse 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so called God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God and then in Revelation chapter 11 verses 1 and 2 and there was given me a measuring rod like a staff this is the vision that John is seeing and recording and someone said rise and measure the temple and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it and leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it for it has been given to the nations and they will tread under foot the holy city for 42 months which of course is three and one half years period of the first half of the tribulation period these verses

[47:08] Dr. Fruchtenbaum continues these verses view the Jewish temple as having been rebuilt and they also presuppose Jewish control of the temple compound as well as the old city of Jerusalem though none of these passages specify a time as to when this was to occur it was clearly fulfilled in the six day war in 1967 and thus became the third birth pang does anybody remember what took place at that time it was one of the wars it was called the war 1967 I can still see it as vividly as anything on the news and it was a picture of Moshe Dian with his patch over his one eye walking with his general staff into the area of

[48:11] Jerusalem that they had succeeded in resting from the Jordanians who occupied it and it was time of incredible celebration because it made the western wall accessible to Israel and it had been closed off from no Jew was allowed in there it was strictly under Muslim territory etc etc as was the temple mount and everything else and that picture made front page news on all the newspapers and the magazines and it was so standing out because he was so easily identified with that black patch over his eye Moshe Dayan 1967 and the 1967 war another war that there is no way in the world that Israel should have won they were outmanned outgunned out everything and yet they won and there is no human explanation for it to this day it was just it was a God thing that's all we can say item

[49:16] D this could very well be next and if it is of course it will be the fourth birth pang item D the Russian invasion of Israel we've talked a little bit about that and I would ask you to turn to Ezekiel 38 and 39 back in the Old Testament again I'm not going to read all of these verses chapter 38 through 39 16 but I am just going to read some selectively and if you'll follow along we'll just kind of glean from this and move through it as quickly as we can oh my goodness well I'm doing the best

[50:19] I can but we're not going to have time for Q&A here I'm afraid all right chapter 38 and the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man set your face toward Gog and the land of Magog the prince of Rosh Meshach and Tubal prophesy against him and this Gog Gog is not a place it's a title it's a name of an individual and he is referred to with the masculine pronoun him at the end of the verse he is the leader of this arrangement prophesy against him that will be against Gog and say thus says the Lord God behold I am against you O Gog prince of Rosh Meshach and Tubal most scholars are convinced that this is in reference to Russia and I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws that that will be an item of persuasion when you think of somebody having a hook in their jaw and somebody pulling on it you're going to go whichever way they say that's the expression put hooks into your jaws and

[51:33] I will bring you out and all your army horses and horsemen all of them splendidly attired a great company with butler and shield all of them wielding swords Persia Ethiopia and put which is ancient modern Libya and Persia is Iran modern Iran with all of them with shield and helmet Gomer with all its troops Beth to Gomer and the remote parts of the north with all its troops many peoples with you be prepared and prepare yourself you and all your companies that are assembled about you and be a guard for them after many days you will be summoned in the latter years you will come into the land that is Gog you will come into the land that is restored from the sword whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations and that of course is speaking of the

[52:35] Jew having been scattered all over the world to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste but its people were brought out from the nations and they are living securely all of them well I think it can be safely said that Israel right now is probably as secure face constant threats from all their neighbors and the rockets coming over and everything and you will go up that is God you will come like a storm you will be like a cloud covering the land you and all your troops and many peoples with you thus says the Lord God it will come about on that day that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan and you will say I that's Gog will go up against the land of unwalled villages that will be Israel and the idea of there being unwalled villages means literally lacking items of defense because biblically speaking the walls that surrounded a village were their main item of defense but this is going to be a land of unwalled villages then

[53:49] I will go up against those who are rest that live securely all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates and here's why I'm going to capture spoil and to seize plunder to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited and against the people who are gathered from the nations who have acquired cattle and goods who live at the center of the world Sheba De Dan he goes on and names them he says verse 15 you will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north you and many peoples with you all of them riding on horses a great assembly and a mighty army and of course everybody that reads this says what's this all about where are the tanks and the armored personnel carriers and all of the items of war where are they what are they doing on this and it's caused a lot of scholars to dismiss this and call this some kind of fantasy from ancient history that never did come to pass and never was fulfilled and it was just a mistake but there's no mistake to it and the time is coming and by the way we've already talked a little bit about some of the possibilities as to why these people are coming on horses and what that is all about so

[55:14] I say if the grid is down pardon if the grid is down and I've got some interesting content too about the grid so I'll tell you what as much as I dislike doing this maybe we ought to just terminate this right now and leave off with the Ezekiel 38 passage because I just want to throw this in in connection with what Kay just said because this may be I took this off the internet this morning and I typed in the question looking for information about the power grid and what's happening there and this is what came up the gentleman name who is referred to as an authority on the issue his name is

[56:18] Peter Vincent Pry Pry Pry Pry Pry name easy to remember you can look him up it it has to do with the electromagnetic pulse caused this is this is from the internet now caused by an international EMP attack or a naturally occurring geomagnetic disturbance called a GMD so it may not be an attack from an enemy it could be an abnormality from outer space that is referred to as a geomagnetic disturbance caused by severe space weather that could damage significant portions of the nation's critical infrastructure including the electrical grid communications equipment water and wastewater systems and all transportation modes

[57:26] Peter Pry chief of staff to Congress on the EMP Commission and a staffer to the Congressional EMP Committee wrote a book called The Power and the Light it is the Congressional EMP Commission's War to Save America and it was published earlier this year I haven't heard of the book I haven't seen the book I don't know anything about other than this title it says nine interconnected transformers substations and a transformer manufacturer and the U.S.

[58:07] power grid would be down at least 18 months probably longer prior states that despite last year's executive order designed to boost the electronic grid and other critical infrastructures no steps have been taken although the order was already given to do so and prior delivered this warning in 2005 saying that America needs to get with it and do something about this because our power grid remains extremely vulnerable and if that power grid goes down and if it would be 18 months you cannot imagine what that would be like it would be much worse than living an

[59:08] Amish lifestyle because there will be no pumps that will work or pump water there will be no wastewater treatment or facilities for it it will be incomprehensible there will be millions of deaths in less than a year millions and it could come from an unintentional source we would refer to as nature or it could be something very deliberate and I want to close with this I'm not happy about leaving you on a downer note but I'll tell you what I'm more convinced about the importance to be realistic than to be optimistic or pessimistic we need to face the possibilities of what's out there and you need to be at least thinking in terms of what if because the what if appears to be more and more a potential reality and this

[60:16] I copied this morning off the internet you can get it too U.S. general talks about a China weapon being close to a Sputnik moment a Chinese test of a hypersonic missile designed to evade U.S.

[60:40] nuclear defenses was very close to a Sputnik moment for the United States so said General Mark Milley chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Wednesday the first official confirmation of how Beijing's demonstration of its capabilities took American officials by surprise two separate tests took place this summer conducted in a fashion that Chinese officials knew would be highly visible to U.S.

[61:16] satellites in other words they did it on purpose they want us to know they've got it you think that isn't intended to affect our treatment and return and commission communications with them of course it is that's the whole purpose of it but the United States said nothing about it don't want to alarm anybody besides you're too stupid to do anything about it the test was notable because hypersonic missiles can quickly maneuver and alter course flying below low earth orbit they are virtually impossible for existing U.S.

[62:05] defenses designed for intercontinental ballistic missiles that follow a predictable path into space and reenter the atmosphere to intercept in other words these are not like the old ICBMs these are different deadly different the Chinese test was conducted in a manner that made it clear the hypersonic missile could be launched to go over Antarctica existing U.S.

[62:41] defenses are all pointed west and north over the Pacific meaning they would be useless in countering an attack from the south this is all called strategy and our authority who has worked with Congress on this says I don't know if it is quite a Sputnik moment this this is General Milley said but I think it's very close to that Milley told David Rubenstein the billionaire and philanthropist who conducts an interview show on Bloomberg television the tests said General Milley were a very significant technological event and he said it has all of our attention so anybody who is committed to leave because you have to be elsewhere or do something else feel free to just get up and leave and thank you for being here and anybody who wants to stay with a question or two or comment is welcome to do so anyone yeah yeah continue it next month okay well you know okay

[64:26] I just want to I just want to leave you I just want to leave you on a positive note we won't be able to do it next month unless we change it maybe make it the third Thursday I don't know we might do that or we may just skip it I don't know I have to talk to Chris and Holly about it later we'll make a decision and let you know but yeah this is a downer in a way it's a downer but I want to leave you with an upper all these things are on the horizon as they appear to be how close much the catching away be how close must the rapture be something to think about and I don't know about you but I'm becoming increasingly weary of this old world anyway and well if he can take care of the sparrow he should be able to take care of us absolutely absolutely

[65:31] I have a question on that one about the 1960s day war now the only thing that would have been fulfilled is proving that they had control of Jerusalem and that area because it also spoke in some of those messages about the antichrist would be sitting in the temple so that's not fulfilled no no and that's that's going to require of course the rebuilding of the temple and there has been no deliberate effort for that although there is as I've told you before there is a group of Jews in Jerusalem that have an official title they call themselves the third temple mount faithful and they have already constructed the items of furniture that are described in the book of

[66:31] Exodus that the workers were supposed to build for the items for the tabernacle and they were to be transferred of course to the temple and they've already developed the costuming and the paraphernalia for the high priest and all the rest of it and they say that they're ready to go and all they need of course is the go ahead for rebuilding the temple which would cause a huge controversy too so we don't know where that's going to go but what he's talking about there are nine different birth pangs and so far we've just looked at three or four of them and we'll continue this whenever it is that we're able to get together again whether it's November or December so and on the other hand none of us may even be here by then who knows so even so come Lord Jesus thank you all for being here and thanks ladies for another delicious breakfast breakfast had a snack had a breakfast and would lá go and look at something.

[67:37]  Engine this may be what could be해� and hit Phillips and see where they're going to have the roast ready and help