September 2015

(Written by Daymond Duck)
There have been several good articles, pro and con, about upcoming events to watch for in Sept. 2015 (blood moons, Sabbatical year, Shemitah, etc.). To be honest, when these good articles came out I just skimmed over many of them. But I now realize that the list of things to watch for in Sept. 2015 has surpassed my ability to keep up with all of it.

So here is a list I made for myself. It is not my purpose to comment on the relevance of any of these things. But it is my purpose to have a calendar of events that I can refer to. Also, understand that because a Jewish day ends at sundown (not 12 p.m.) and because there are questions about the accuracy of the Jewish calendar some of what is being reported could be wrong.

Will the USA stab Israel in the back?

(from Bare Naked Islam)
BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA reportedly plans to stab Israel in the back by voting with Israel’s enemies at the UN

In keeping with the administration’s apparent strategy of alienating the one real ally his country has in the Middle East, reports are surfacing that Barack Hussein Obama is close to stabbing the Jewish state in the back in international diplomacy.

Breitbart  Several cabinet ministers inside Israel’s government claim that Obama has formally notified Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. may plan a major break in relations with the Jewish state.

The U.S. would reportedly start voting with Israel’s enemies at the United Nations if the Jewish state does not capitulate to various Obama administration diktats. Such demands would pose existential risks to the survival of the Jewish state, such that no elected Israeli leader could possibly accept them.

The Gospel of the Kingdom vs the Gospel of Grace

Part 1.  The Gospel Of The Kingdom

Written by Jack Kelley)
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matt. 3:1-2)

Prophecies of a Messianic King appear throughout the Old Testament and many in the Jewish leadership saw John's arrival on the scene as their fulfillment.  They sent representatives to the place where John was baptizing to see if he was the promised Messiah. He said he wasn't, but that the one they had been expecting was even then in their midst (John 1:19-28).

750 years earlier Isaiah had said when the Messiah came He would reign on David's throne forever (Isaiah 9:6-7) but the throne of David had been vacant for 600 years.  John had come to tell them the time was finally at hand and they had better get ready for Him.

When Jesus began His ministry, John introduced Him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:8) and publicly testified that Jesus was the Son of God (John 1:34).  Right from the beginning Jesus began teaching that the Kingdom of Heaven was near (Matt. 4:17), and sent His disciples through out the land to alert the people to this fact as well (Matt. 10:7-8). 

You Don’t Mess With Israel!

(Written by Donna Wasson)
Geesh! Some so-called Christians these days get on my last nerve. I made the mistake of reading the excellent article, So Jesus Lived in Occupied Territory, by Jan Markell, on the Rapture Ready website and got so disgusted I wanted to stick a pencil in somebody! Up until that point, I was blissfully unaware that an international conference called, Christ at the Checkpoint even existed. Blech!

Apparently this symposium, held in Bethlehem of all places, features some of the ‘intellectually elite Christian thinkers of our time.’ This yearly conference started in 2010 and its overall theme is, (hold your nose!) “Hope in the Midst of Conflict.”

Their aim is to, “provide an opportunity for Evangelical Christians to prayerfully seek proper awareness of issues of peace, justice and reconciliation in the context of the realities on the ground in the Palestinian territories.” What a load…

A Covenant With Death

(Written by Jack Kelley)
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”

So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.

I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place. Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the grave will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it. (Isaiah 28:14-18)I first wrote about this passage from Isaiah about six years ago. At the time Israel was in the process of giving up the Gaza Strip in the hopes of moving closer to peace with the Palestinians. Since then things have only gotten worse for the Jewish people. Every effort they’ve made to accommodate world opinion has left them weakened, while their enemies have become stronger.

Boundaries of the Promised Land

(from differentspirit.org)
I will plant Israel in their own land,      
never again to be uprooted from
the land I have given them. (Amos 9:15)

Some 3,500 years ago the Canaanites inhabited the land that God promised to give to the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (see Timeline). God promised that He would give the land of Israel to the Jewish people as an eternal possession. The promise was unconditional. God confirmed it at least 55 times with an oath and stated, at least 12 times, that the covenant was everlasting (see Bible References).

God did bring the Israelites into the Promised Land, 40 years after the Exodus from Egypt. Israel reached the peak of her power some 500 years later, under King Solomon.

The map shows the area that Israel controlled at that time. It almost matched the boundaries of the land that God had promised. Gaza was not taken from the Philistines in Solomon’s day, and the land of the Canaanites promised to Abraham included the coastal strip all the way to Sidon – the city of Canaan’s first-born son (1 Chronicles 1:13, Genesis 10:19)

Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites ...(1 Chronicles 1:13)

... and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. (Genesis 10:19)

Areas of Moab, Ammon and Edom, east of the Dead Sea, were occupied by King Solomon, but were not part of the Promised Land. This is part of modern-day Jordan.

Israel entered the Promised Land and, hundreds of years later under King Solomon, they occupied a large part, but not all, of the territory which God had promised to them. Israel was required to obey the Law of Moses and, when they failed, God thrust them out of the land. However, God’s promise that they will inherit the land still stands. We see the Jews being brought back to the Promised Land in our day. We expect that God’s word will be fulfilled and that they will enter their full inheritance. The next question is: What are the boundaries of the Promised Land as described in the Bible?