Has the World Turned A Prophetic Corner?

Sunday, 17 June 2007 05:57 |

Has the World Turned

A Prophetic Corner?

Observations on the 40th Anniversary

of Israel Retaking Jerusalem?

R.A. Coombes

Author of “America, The Babylon

I believe a prophetic corner may well have been turned on God’s prophetic timeline with the fortieth anniversary of Israel’s capture of the Temple Mount and the rest of Jerusalem.

For those of you too young to remember or who have forgotten the history of modern Israel, the nation of Israel did not have control over all of Jerusalem or the Temple Mount when it was founded in 1948. Israel did not take possession of the Temple Mount and all of Jerusalem until the Six-Day war of 1967. That war began on June 5, 1967 with a surprise attack on Egypt by Israeli air strikes that immediately wiped out Egypt’s air force. By the next day, on the 6th of June, Israeli forces had secured all of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount though the war would last another four days.

The 6-Day War gave Israel control over essentially the same land it once held 2,000 years earlier in the time of the New Testament era and during the Life of Jesus Christ. This date essentially was the completion of the “birth” of Israel and I believe is of greater prophetic significance than the initial re-birth of Israel in 1948 because only in 1967 did Israel regain control of all of the Biblical territory it once held. This event then, becomes what I believe to be a major “time-point” marker on God’s prophetic time-line and time-table for prophetic fulfillment of the “end of the church era” and the “Day of the Lord” prophecies leading to the Return of Jesus Christ.

June 6, 1967 is, I believe a timeline marker that likely signaled a 40 year period of “wandering” for Israel, much like in the time of Moses, prior to the conquest of Canaan and the establishment of an Israeli nation. That 40 year period was marked as a generation of time, in which the “unbelieving” generation that rebelled against Moses died out. With the death of that unbelieving generation, Israel could proceed with its conquest.

Today, we have a somewhat similar situation in which Jesus predicted that the generation which saw the rebirth of Israel would not pass away until all the other end-time prophecies leading to His Return were fulfilled.
Jesus noted in his “Olivet Discourse” with the disciples given just prior to the crucifixion that all of his predictions would be seen by the generation which witnessed the start of the events, the rebirth of Israel (i.e. the fig tree). We see His statement on this in all 3 of the Synoptic gospels.

Matt: 24:34 – “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”

Mark 13:30 – “Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.”

Luke 21:32 – “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.”

Now the question of -“how long a generation is?” has been debated by good scholars for 2,000 years.

The theoretical number of years attested to the term “generation” has ranged from 20 years to 40 years, to 50 years to 60, 70 and 100 years. The only two theories that seem to make the most sense are the 40 and 70 year theories. I personally am inclined to think the 40 year’s theory makes the most sense, though I know in a previous A-O article some readers to exception to such a conclusion and argued in favor of other time frames, most notably the 70 year concept.

Some would argue that the time for beginning the countdown should begin with Israel beginning to possess some of the land, as in 1948 and then counting a 60 or 70 year generational period. While this is perhaps feasible, I still think the time frame is 40 years and it begins when Israel takes control of all of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

Some would also argue that Israel doesn’t control the Temple Mount. To that objection I counter-argue the fact that Israel does retain authority and control over the entire city and Mount, but they have allowed the Muslims some day-to-day oversight of the Muslim portion but Israel retains the right at any moment to level the Muslim section and evict the Muslims from not only the Mount area but from the entire city. The fact remains, that Israel retains final say, and thus in reality, from a Divine Perspective, Israel controls every part of the city and the Temple Mount, because the Muslims can do nothing without Israeli permission.

So what does this mean for us today?

As I have written previously on the 40 year issue, I had noted that the 40 year anniversary of Israel retaking Jerusalem would likely mark a turning point on the prophetic time line. Deborah Fenech also wrote an article on the 40 year, “generation” theory that was published in A-O. LINK.

We both felt that this anniversary date would mark a turning point in prophetic timelines and would be evidenced by a dramatic surge in events directly correlating to prophetic fulfillment of other prophecies. I believe we are already seeing a surge in such events now correlating to prophetic fulfillment.

There are two ways to look at the fortieth anniversary date. One way is to take the Prophetic Hebrew calendar system of 360 day years. Under this approach the 40 year anniversary date was May 17, 2007. The other way to look count the anniversary is to take the standard 365 day solar calendar, marking the anniversary date as June 6, 2007 for the retaking of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. However, it should also be noted that the 6-day war didn’t end until June 10, 1967.

As we look back on news events in the past 30 days, we’ve noted that events related to Israel’s security have dramatically increased. There is constant talk of war. War drums really began to intensify as the Hebrew anniversary dates in May were celebrated in Israel. Events began to really intensify though on the June 6, date and have continued to develop, particularly on June 11, the day after the 40 year anniversary to the end of the 6-Day war.

Is it merely “ironic” that the day after the 40 year anniversary of the end of the 6-Day war, Israel’s arch-terrorist enemy Hamas, launched its own civil war against Fatah and the Palestinian Authority government? Yes, on June 11, Hamas began its civil war in the Gaza Strip to wipe out its Fatah rivals and take total control of Gaza. By June 15, Hamas controlled the entire Gaza Strip.

The Hamas victory in Gaza is not the end of the civil war. Hamas will likely attempt at some point to take over the West Bank. Such a move will send refugees running to Jordan and perhaps trigger the overthrow of King Abdullah whose authority has already been undermined by Al Qaeda terrorists operating in the Kingdom.

Israel could soon find itself surrounded on every side by extremists ready for final jihad to wipe out Israel. The situation may well revert back to the period between 1948 and 1967 when Israel lived under constant threat of joint invasion by Arab nations surrounding her. In other words, the last 40 years were a respite that is now coming to an end.

I believe this is a key indicator and verification, that we’ve marked a key turning point on the prophetic timelines. Why? What does a Hamas takeover of Gaza have to do with prophetic time line issues?

Hamas is nothing but a proxy fighting force financed and directed by Iran. The sudden Hamas attack was ordered by Iran as preliminary step in a plan to destroy Israel. Based on intelligence assessments published by various civilian intelligence groups, Iran and Syria are preparing to launch a war against not only Israel, but against the United States forces in Iraq and bases around the Middle East, most notably in the Persian Gulf.

It may well be the case that the prophecies of the first judgment of Babylon-America are about to be fulfilled later this summer or fall. The first judgment of Babylon triggers the rise to power of the Antichrist and prior to the judgment, the rapture of the church, as evidenced by Revelation 18:4 with the command given in the original Greek to the church (“my people”) to “Come UP (into the heavens where the voice is located) and OUT of her.” That verse is then followed by the decree (verse 6) of 2 distinctly different judgments as found in the term “double unto her double” the judgments.”

IF indeed we are at the point of the first judgment upon Babylon-America then the rapture of the church must come first. We could be very close now to that event.
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