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September 2010 Issue

Israel's Problems
Sep 1st, 2010
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

Israel is besieged with problems but there are three problems which stand out:

1.      Iran’s nuclear program
2.      The peace negotiations
3.      The coming war

On August 21 Iran began loading the rods to activate the Bushehr nuclear generating plant. It will be producing fissile material (capable of sustaining a chain reaction of nuclear fission) by October. The concern is that Bushehr, once fuelled and operating, will produce plutonium 239, which can be used to make nuclear weapons. Speaking to the Jerusalem Post this week, John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the UN, warned that this is a “very, very big victory for Iran. This is a huge threshold.”

The facts are clear that this achievement brings Iran’s Ahmadinejad closer to his goal of nuclear Armageddon. The motivation for Ahmadinejad is his belief in the coming Mahdi or Islamic Messiah. He believes the Mahdi will establish a world- wide Caliphate through which Islam will triumph. He believes that the Mahdi is coming very soon and that it is his task to bring about a catastrophic war which will hasten his return. Ahmadinejad’s belief in the coming of the Mahdi is so fixed that in 2004, when he was mayor of Tehran, he instructed the city council to build a “grand avenue” in preparation for the Mahdi’s return. The Iranian leader is madly racing toward his goal of obtaining nuclear weapons to annihilate Israel. When will this goal be reached? A month, a year, we do not know, but the time is much shorter than it was prior to the activation of the Bushehr plant.

Israel has committed to destroy Iran’s nuclear program before it is too late. Some felt that that deadline was prior to August 21, before the nuclear plant was activated, but Israel has restated that they will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear bomb. Reports persist that President Obama has prevailed upon Israel to delay their strike. Israel has reiterated that if others will not help them they will ultimately go it alone. They have indicated that they will know when the crucial hour is at hand.

When the attack does come it will result in a war that will set the Mideast aflame! Iran will use whatever missiles and other means they have to attack Israel. Hamas will use their missiles against Israel. The greatest threat to Israel will come from Hezbollah and Syria; they have an estimated 60,000 missiles, some with heavy payloads and possibly chemical or biological payloads. Space does not permit detailing of the all of the preparations that have been made for this coming war. I believe this war is referred to in Psalm 83; Isaiah 17; and Ezekiel 35-36.

The scenario looks very dark for Israel! We are seeing the same desperate situation that prevailed at the start of each of Israel’s modern wars. In the 1973 Yom Kippur war, on the first day the Egyptians advanced to within 20 kilometres of Tel Aviv, on the eastern front Syrian tanks came rumbling down off the Golan Heights and all seemed to be lost.

Moshe Dayan warned Golda Meir that he feared the Third Commonwealth (Temple Era) is in danger. It has been reported from her memoirs that the situation was so desperate that Golda Meir had contemplated suicide. Dayan made a recommendation to the cabinet that Israel employ its’ tactical nuclear weapons. Thirteen of them were activated to be placed on Jericho missiles. Henry Kissinger warned Anwar Sadat in Egypt that Israel was preparing to use nuclear weapons. A massive American airlift rearmed Israel and prevented a nuclear response. The truth is that the God of Israel again miraculously intervened to save His people. The God of Israel is repeatedly allowing Israel to have her back placed to the wall. Each time God delivers Israel from a desperate situation. Why is God doing this? The answer is given in Ezekiel 39:7 “So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.” He is preparing her for the coming day when Israel will finally turn back to God in repentance and faith.

Today Israel is facing even greater threats. The modern Jewish state is facing a much more dangerous situation than it ever has before. The very existence of Israel is once again threatened.

Israel has a policy called the Samson option. Just as Samson gave his life to destroy the enemies of Israel so long ago, the Samson option says that if Israel arrives at the point of anticipated destruction it will use its nuclear weapons as a last resort.

Isaiah 17:1 and 14 seems to indicate perhaps the nuclear destruction of Damascus in the war that is seemingly imminent.  “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” verse 1. “And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.” verse 14.  It is not hard to imagine how such a war would bring the world to the place where it cried out for disarmament and set the scene for Antichrist to come along and bring a false peace to the Mideast and to the world. Whatever awaits us, it is obvious that we are on the threshold of cataclysmic events.

The quartet; the US, the EU, the UN and Russia, are demanding that Israel yield to all of the demands of the PA. Those demands include returning to the borders prior to the 1967 war. That would involve abandoning the West Bank, Biblical Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. It would also permit millions of Palestinian, so called refugees, to return to Israel proper, which would mean the end of the Jewish State. The end would come either at the ballot box or from a civil war within Israel and from the new strategic Arab positions in the West Bank. The world is now demanding that Israel surrender to these demands. The Palestinians no longer have any need to negotiate, it is evident they are simply waiting for the world deliver Israel’s head on a silver platter. Israel’s position grows more precarious each day.

The obvious fact is that Palestinians have absolutely no intention of ever signing a peace deal with Israel on any terms other than Israel’s surrender. They do not want a Palestinian State alongside Israel; they want nothing less than Israel removed from the Mideast.  They have stated this times without number but Western Nations have ears that cannot hear or do not want to hear.

Israel is facing a number of situations in which God will arrest her and chasten her. She is yet to face the war of Ezekiel 38-39, the great tribulation period and the battle of Armageddon. When the Lord is finished, Israel will have her eyes opened and behold her Saviour.  “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:” Romans 11:25, 26.  In Zechariah 13:8, 9 we see the final outcome of God’s patient and stern dealings with Israel, “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”

What an awesome hour we live in! The trumpet is soon to sound!  “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”   Art Sadlier

The Coming Cataclysm
Sep 1st, 2010
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

The following excerpts are from the recent news items warning of a coming cataclysmic war.

Last month, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to Washington said at a conference, "A military attack on Iran by whomever would be a disaster, but Iran with a nuclear weapon would be a bigger disaster." 

“At some point, military leaders in the United States and in Israel will have to decide: Which is more dangerous -- an Iran capable of launching a nuclear weapon? Or an Iran that just got hit with tons of artillery and is out for revenge?”

“Most Middle East analysts and political observers are more than sure that the war between Israel and the West on one side, and Hezbollah, Syria, Hamas and Iran on the other front is inevitable. Its occurrence has become just a matter of time. The Middle East is in the eye of the storm and, apparently, no one can avert the confrontation that has become necessary for the agendas of all parties involved.”

“The International Crisis Group (ICG) gives warnings of a devastating Middle East war. A new Israel-Lebanon conflict is likely to be far more violent, inflict greater damage to civilian and government infrastructure, and lead to the direct embroilment of other regional actors warned a new report released by the ICG.”

The following news items warn of the preparations now underway.

“Gaza Terrorists Digging Tunnels to Infiltrate Israel.”

“Hezbollah reportedly builds tunnel system 'more impressive than Paris underground' to counter IDF strikes; Yemenite Al Qaeda leader tells followers to prepare for Israel-Iran war. The report also claimed Hezbollah created an underground system of weapon caches, and that additional warehouses were dispersed in different locations above ground, so they are not damaged by IDF attacks, as was the case during the Second Lebanon War.”

“TEHRAN — Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Tuesday that Iran will unveil next week an array of weapons, including missiles, speedboats and a long range drone, the ISNA news agency reported. Two missiles, Qiam (Rising) and the third generation Fateh 110 (Conqueror) would be tested next week. Iran will also unveil the long-range drone, Karar, he said using the nickname of revered Shiite Imam Ali.

Also on August 8, Iran took delivery of four new mini-submarines of the home-produced Ghadir class. Weighing 120 tons, the ‘stealth’ submarines are aimed at operations in shallow waters, notably in the Gulf.”

“Retired US General Paul Valley, who has been following the Mideast situation closely, has recently revealed some troubling information. He said that conflicts this summer may drastically change our world. He went on to warn of the imminent danger of chemical attacks against Israel. Today the whole scenario has changed drastically. These new missiles have longer range, better guidance systems, and can carry much heavier payloads that can devastate. They are also capable of carrying chemical weapons. I believe Israel is fully aware of this threat, recently they have issued gas masks to the general population.”

Meanwhile Israel is preparing for the worst.

“Jerusalem railway station, Haifa's Carmel Tunnels and Habima parking lot in Tel Aviv among places slated to protect thousands from chemical or biological attack. The State of Israel is preparing to build additional large underground spaces which would be able to absorb tens of thousands of people and protect them from non-conventional weapons for a long period of time, Major-General Ronny Seri, head of the Home Front Command's fortification department told Yedioth Ahronoth on Tuesday.”

When we place the Bible alongside the Daily News we can see the prophecies given 2000 to 3000 years ago being fulfilled before our eyes. Fulfilled prophecy proves beyond any possibility of a doubt that God is the Sovereign Lord of the universe and that the Bible is His Word.

I believe we are on the threshold of the war foretold in Psalm 83; Isaiah 17; and Ezekiel 35-36. These scriptures describe this war as a cataclysmic event. God will again miraculously deliver Israel. It seems to me that this war will be the precursor of the Peace Treaty that will lead into the great tribulation period.   Art Sadlier

The World is on the Wrong Course
Sep 1st, 2010
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

Recently at a Ramadan dinner in the Whitehouse President Obama said, ““Let me be clear, as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable”.

This is an incredible contrast compared with tremendous pressure Obama has placed on Israel to terminate all Jewish construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, even though it is entirely legal. In his Cairo speech last year Obama said, “It is time for these settlements to stop.”  Hillary Clinton added later with emotion, “I mean a stop to settlements—not some settlements, not outposts, not natural-growth exceptions.” This means that Israeli’s must not turn a stone for schools, synagogues, homes, nurseries, or any other purpose on land that might someday become a part of a Palestinian State.

Earlier this year, after Israel announced a plan for 1,600 housing units to be built in a Jewish neighbourhood in East Jerusalem while Vice President Biden was visiting Israel, President Obama upbraided Prime Minister Netanyahu for nearly 45 minutes over the phone. David Axelrod, Obama’s senior White House adviser, called the housing construction announcement “an affront” and “an insult” to the United States. 

By contrast, Muslims are welcome to build in New York on land that is sacred to the survivors of 9/11. The inconsistency is incredible.

In an even greater inconsistency Mahmoud Abbas described his Jew-free vision of a future Palestinian state: “I will not agree that there will be Jews among NATO forces and I will not allow even one Israeli to live amongst us on Palestinian soil.”  In the next breath this same man demands that millions of Palestinians be allowed to live within the State of Israel. I have never heard one voice of protest raised against this convoluted logic. The problem is that there is no Palestinian soil. The fact is, there has never been a Palestinian people in all of history.  There has never been a Palestinian nation nor has there been a Palestinian Government; nor a Palestinian Language or culture nor a Palestinian economy. As late as the 1950’s Arabs refused to be called Palestinians.

Yet the world accepts this lie as the basis of a false peace which they are attempting to impose on Israel. The underlying purpose of it all is to force Israel off the land God has promised to Israel.

I noted the following comment on the internet in reference to this whole inconsistency and think it is worth repeating here. “Yet these are the kinds of partners (the Palestinians) the United States assiduously courts, even as it tramples on the civil rights of Israeli citizens and utterly disregards the valid concerns of two thirds of Americans. 

Of course, the White House and its surrogates in the media would have us believe the Ground Zero controversy is purely a matter of civil rights or religious tolerance. They would also insist that helping to build an anti-Semitic Palestinian state adjacent to Israel is an indispensable step to establishing lasting peace in the Middle East. What these events actually reveal is a shameful and dangerous double standard that, as Glick pointed out, favours Muslim rights over the values of most Americans and turns a blind eye to Palestinian racism while denying Jews their civil rights.”

All through history men and nations have rebelled against God and His Word and His will. We are told in scripture that this rebellion will come to a climax in the last days. We see that in mans rejection of God through evolutionary teaching. Evolution says there is no God, things just evolved. We see it the rejection of God’s plan for marriage which is one man and one woman united together for life. In fact today whatever God says in His Word the world rejects.

The greatest act of rebellion today is found in the rejection by men and nations of God’s clear pronouncement that the land of Canaan belongs to Israel. God said the land is mine and I have given it to Israel for an everlasting possession. “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:8. That promise includes the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and all of Jerusalem. That promise was repeated many times in scripture and yet men today are defying God by denying Israel what God has promised to her.

The warning is that God will have the last word.  “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with (judge) them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land,” Joel 3:2.  Someday, perhaps in the not too distant future, God’s judgment will come in the form of the seven year tribulation which will culminate in the battle of Armageddon that Joel speaks of.

Go ahead and defy God, have your day, the price you will pay is the eternal vengeance of God.     Art Sadlier