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Just when we thought we were really making progress toward a bright future of a harmonious "love-in", "Age of Aquarius",type world with hugs and kisses all round ... the wheels fell off .... again. But it's not a case of back to square one for the train keeps moving on and edging even closer to the inevitable.

I note from current headlines that the Cold War and the Arms Race never really went away at all (surprise, surprise). They were just waiting for the right time to come out of the closet again. It is still a case of Russia Vs the USA - but it is not the same world it was back then. Back then America had the world on its side. But the world is not on the side of America any more and there are new "beasts" of power gathering on the world stage. A new European Union and a new African Union who get along with Russia a whole lot better these days. Then of course there is the Middle East where it seems to be just about everybody against America and Israel. (Indeed it is almost like the whole world against Israel EXCEPT America). Who could have foreseen the current world situation 20 years ago let alone 2,000 ago?? And 60 years ago Israel did not even exist!!

But is it just blind (but incredible) coincidence that  the current whole world situation revolves around Jerusalem (Called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the "city of God,") and Israel ... yet again?? We should bear in mind that Armageddon is not the name of a battle but of a PLACE. Armageddon means "mount of Megiddo", a place just North West of Jerusalem. A place where the nations gather to battle against ... Jerusalem and Israel! (Remember Israel did not exist a mere 60 years ago ANYWHERE, let alone in Jerusalem). Perhaps, if one tried hard enough, one could convince themselves it is all just a random accumulation of world events. What is harder to explain is who told the Prophets and Apostles about them 2,000+ years ago??

But before I go any further let's put to rest one common error many make. There are those who will try and tell you that all the prophesies either ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD or that because they didn't happen then they aren't going to happen now because they were all supposed to happen within the time of Jesus' generation. They come to this erroneous conclusion based on a single statement Jesus made, a statement that does not say what they THINK it says. Jesus said (English translation of course), after reciting several prophecies including His return:-

Mr 13:30  Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
or;
Lu 21:32  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

What they forget is that not only did Jesus rise from the dead, but He also raised others from the dead, most notable of them being Lazarus (but there were other also). Jesus differentiated between physical death and spiritual death, for Jesus could raise anybody from physical death, for to Jesus and the Lord they were not "dead" but only "asleep". (Lu 20:38  For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.) To Jesus physical (flesh and blood) death was not death at all. In fact Jesus never used "pass" or "pass away" to refer to physical death. THAT He referred to as "sleep", "asleep", or simply "die" (The Greek words "koimao"[sleep/asleep] or "apothnesko"[die] ). The term "pass", or "pass away" (the Greek "parerchomai", to perish) He used exclusively for matters of eternity. For example in the very next sentence that He uttered:- "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." (Luke 21:33). In other words to "pass away" is to perish, BOTH physically AND spiritually, to cease to exist ENTIRELY, body AND soul.

While we may die physically we do not cease to exist. ALL will be raised up again to stand before the judgement seat of Christ. Some rise to eternal life but those not in the "Book of Life" rise only to "pass away" in the Lake of Fire that Revelation speaks of.

The truth is those who were alive at the time of Jesus, the "generation" of which He speaks have not, even now, "passed away", even if, as Jesus would say, they "sleep". But they also will stand with everybody else to be judged.

But to understand the unfolding prophecies around us we need to appreciate that whilst the books of the Bible were written by many different people over many hundreds of years they all tell of the same "plan" of the same God. That is. they are intricately woven together by threads of prophesy that run throughout them. You can no more understand prophecy by referring to one prophet, than you can discern the pattern of a carpet by looking at a single thread. You must see how they all "weave" together.

That is why to understand what has happened, and what is happening you must go right back to Moses, and in particular Leviticus 26:14-46 where  the Lord pronounces a series of punishments on Israel should it disobey His commandments and Law. These punishments increase by sevenfold at each step, both in severity AND in time. This sevenfold increments is a VITAL key to understanding what is happening ( apart from the Holy Spirit, that is). The final punishment is the total destruction of Israel and ALL its cities, temples, etc. and the scattering of the people among the lands of their enemies - the Gentile nations. The one BEFORE that was the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and 70 years of exile to Babylon.

But you have to go to the writings of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 35:17 and 36:31) to find where the Lord decreed that because of the disobedience of Israel ALL these punishments WILL take place. But Jeremiah speaks also of the coming of the Messiah (Jesus Christ). When we go to the words of the Prophet Daniel (Daniel 9-12) we find Daniel is actually trying to understand Leviticus 26:14-46 and the words of Jeremiah (who was before Daniel) when the Angel Gabriel comes to explain it to him. At the time Daniel was in exile in Babylon and trying to fit it into the prophecies of Moses and Jeremiah and wondering about the coming of the Messiah (I appreciate how Daniel probably felt trying to understand it all). Gabriel not only filled Daniel in on a lot of then FUTURE history between then and 74AD (all of which indeed came to pass into the history books of that period) but also set him straight as to PRECISELY when the Messiah would come into Jerusalem AND the PRECISE timetable for Israel's punishments, beginning with the 70 years of exile before Jerusalem is reclaimed and Israel re-established in the Promised Land. It is about another 49 years before the rebuilding of Jerusalem is finished. BUT there is still the FINAL sevenfold increased punishment to go after that! The one that ends with the total destruction of ALL cities, Temples, etc. in Israel and the scattering of the Power (nation) of the Holy people to languish among the enemy nations. Seven times 70 is 490 JEWISH Years of 360 days each (Usually translated in Daniel as 70 "sevens" or in some, 70 "weeks"). The Messiah is to come BEFORE that though, precisely 69 "sevens/weeks" after the issuing of the PROCLAMATION to rebuild Jerusalem.

When we do the maths (remembering to convert Jewish 360 day years to OUR 365 day years) we find 69 X 7 years after the proclamation was issued brings us to 32AD in the month of Nisan (the Passover month), which is when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as its king and messiah. BUT 70 X 7 years after Jerusalem has been rebuilt is 74AD, and it is in 74AD that the LAST Jewish city and stronghold (MASADA, not Jerusalem, which was destroyed in 70AD) and last remnant of the Jewish national government fell to the Roman army (remembering that the prophecy was for the destruction of ALL cities, temples, etc.in Israel  - not just Jerusalem - and the scattering of the POWER of the Holy People).

BUT the prophecy of Moses does not end THERE.

Daniel learned of when Israel was to be destroyed and the people scattered. But Leviticus 26:14-46 ALSO says that after a time the people will be RETURNED to the Promised land and be re-established in it. That Israel and Jerusalem will be restored! In other words the prophecy of Moses did not end in 74 AD but continued after it until the punishment of Israel was completed. But to find out how long that punishment was to last we have to go to Ezekiel for THAT part of the prophecy was revealed to HIM.

Probably to catch the attention of those who saw him the Lord made Ezekiel build a model of Jerusalem under seige then lay first on one side for the sins of Judah, and then on the other for the sins of Israel (for they were a divided nation at this stage). The number of days he lay down represented the number of years of their INIQUITY (not their punishment). Ekekiel lay 360 days one side and 40 days the other (430 days in all representing 430 years of iniquity/sin/disobedience). Now by this stage Jerusalem was already in its first 70 years of exile which left 360 years of punishment (430-70). But as both Moses and Daniel point out that remaining pubnishment is sevenfold. So not 360 but 7 X 360 years (or 2,520 Jewish years).

Again if you do the maths (including the conversion to OUR 365 day years) you come out at 1948, the very year Israel was re-established as a nation in the Promised Land, and most significantly in Jerusalem. This brings to a close the prophecy of Leviticus 26:14-46, which is a prophecy for the punishment of ISRAEL, a prophecy which has now come to pass into the History of this world.

.....But what happens after that???

I'll be back soon to tell you .....

(Gee I sound like one of those "reality" shows or a soapie, but following Christ and truly understanding what the Lord has revealed about us and our future is not about glib answers or "sound bites" or quick quotes. Contrary to the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" the meaning of life and everything is nowhere as simple as ... 42! )