Is There a Gathering Storm? By Gary Stearman

Thank you Jan, for allowing me to post the Understanding the Times Newsletters.

Is There a Gathering Storm?
By Gary Stearman
www.olivetreeviews.org

(Note from Jan: The last month has been one harrowing experience for me and thus this week I am drawing on an article from Gary Stearman from Prophecy in the News. I hope to be back to normal by next week as the planned surgery for next Wednesday was cancelled. The problem resolved itself thanks to prayer and God's goodness. I was not given a gurantee that things will be better forever but with prayer and God, all things are possible.)

Many Christians are beginning to wonder aloud whether we have entered into a period when God is visibly judging the earth. We now seem to be wildly careening from one crisis to another. At this writing, the latest big calamity -- British Petroleum's Gulf of Mexico oil spill -- has brought endless media dramatization, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Meanwhile, secular power and authority is using this crisis to extend its grasp on global power. Lately, several authors have written books that chronicle the coincidental timing between the U.S. policy toward Israel and catastrophic events affecting our nation. Since Israeli statehood in 1948, we have been Israel's chief guarantor and support. Now, we are pulling away, and the world seems to be trembling in response to this ominous transformation.

At the beginning of May, many students of Bible prophecy began to take note of the reddish color of the floating oil slick. It reminded them of blood. They then wondered aloud if prophecy had been fulfilled. Specifically, they recalled Revelation 16:3: And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. Some have speculated that if the undersea oil flow continues, all life in the sea could die.

On the other hand, we have survived such oil leaks before. Another similar one happened on a Mexican rig in the Gulf and also on an Arabian rig in the Persian Gulf. Still, there is something amazing about this latest disaster. It happened on April 20, the very day that the nation of Israel was celebrating its 62nd Independence Day, called Yom Ha'Atzmaut in Hebrew. On the very day that BP's deepwater rig exploded, Israelis were commemorating their holiday with a national ceremony on Mount Herzl, along with national picnics, barbecues and celebration in general.

If the Lord was sending a message, He certainly chose an appropriate day to do it. Many now believe that God is actively judging the world, particularly in relation to Israel's treatment. They view the weakening relationship between the United States and Israel with great trepidation. Bible-believing Christians understand that the Abrahamic covenant between God and Israel is still in effect. Its primary edict could not be clearer:

"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3). This 3 minute video sums this scenario brilliantly.

And do not miss this three-minute YouTube here. Look at the faces. Do they look evil? They are joyfully obsessed to be returning "home" from the four corners of the earth.

We believe that since Israel has once again become a nation in the modern era, it operates under this covenant. Therefore, any man or nation who stands against Israel is liable to be cursed. By March 25, U.S. criticism of Israel became a daily news release. In an effort to restore talks, Netanyahu and his aides made an emergency trip to the U.S. This resulted in the "dumped for dinner" disaster, in which the Prime Minister was snubbed, as Obama retired to his private quarters in the White House. Netanyahu was said to have received "the treatment reserved for the President of Equatorial Guinea."

Israel was also refused key weapons systems upgrades and spare parts, even as Obama delivered Apache helicopters and F-16 fighters to Egypt. Israel's promised delivery of "bunker buster" bombs was also withheld. U.S. criticism of Israel became a daily news release. Moving into April, we learned that China's President Hu Jintao extracted a promise from the Obama government that would allow a possible UN sanction against Israel.

Israel's enemies soon took advantage of weakening U.S. support for Israel. On April 6th, Jordan's King Abdullah publicly announced that he regretted his father's (the late King Hussein's) decision to make peace with Israel. Because of deteriorating U.S. support, Israel had suddenly arrived at the position of being openly derided as an international pariah. This massive change had taken only a little over a month.

On April 7th, Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan called Israel, "the principal threat to peace in the Middle East."

But Christians who are sensitive to the subtleties of Bible prophecy cannot deny the obvious connection between the building U.S.-Israel conflict and the climactic explosion that came on the very day that celebrates Israel's modern statehood. We are not yet in the Tribulation, so the oil spill cannot be a fulfillment of prophecy in the judgments in the Book of Revelation. Still it may be a foreshadowing of things soon to come.

On the 20th of April, an information service called Standing with Israel News published Independence Day remarks made by featured speakers. Their remarks were tinged with the acknowledgment of the gathering storm.

And then the oil rig exploded.

Note from Jan: Yesterday Obama told Jewish voters what they wanted to hear -- that America will always defend Israel. His actions speak the very opposite. The terms of that cooperation will be a forced Palestinian state in the heart of Israel, including parts of Jerusalem. Sharpen your discernment and don't buy into these falsehoods. Israel has no earthly friends left. A final thought -- we do not know for sure if there is a connection reported on in this article. But Scriptural passage clearly remind us of consequences for causing harm to God's land and people.

We have an "Israel" category with excellent articles and videos to help you understand this issue. Find it here.

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Brannon Howse sits in for me for radio this weekend. I hope to be back live out of Minneaopolis/St. Paul July 17.