JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN
REVELATION 6:7-8 (500 MILLION DEAD EACH FROM THE 4 JUDGEMENTS)(2 BILLION TOT DEAD HERE)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 billion) of (8 billion) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500 million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
WORLD COVID TOTALS AS OF FRI DEC 25,20-CASES-80,193,904-DEATHS-1,756,946
In Christmas address, Pope calls for needy, vulnerable to get vaccine first-Roman pontiff urges leaders of nations, businesses and international organizations to ‘promote cooperation and not competition, and to search for solution for all’By Frances D'Emilio-DEC 25,20-Today, 7:55 pm
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis made a Christmas Day plea for authorities to make COVID-19 vaccines available to all, insisting that the first in line should be the most vulnerable and needy, regardless of who holds the patents for the shots.“Vaccines for everybody, especially for the most vulnerable and needy,” who should be first in line, Francis said in off-the-cuff remarks from his prepared text, calling the development of such vaccines “light of hope” for the world.“We can’t let closed nationalisms impede us from living as the true human family that we are,” the pope said.He called on the leaders of nations, businesses and international organizations to “promote cooperation and not competition, and to search for a solution for all.”Amid a surge of coronavirus infections this fall in Italy, Francis broke with tradition for Christmas. Instead of delivering his “Urbi et Orbi” speech — Latin for “to the city and to the world” — outdoors from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, he read it from inside a cavernous hall at the Apostolic Palace, flanked by two Christmas trees with blinking lights.Pope Francis, center, delivers the Urbi et Orbi Christmas’ day blessing inside the blessing hall of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican on December 25, 2020. (Vatican Media via AP)-Normally, tens of thousands of people would have crowded into St. Peter’s Square to receive the pope’s Christmas blessing and listen to his speech. But Italian measures to try to rein in holiday infections allow people to leave their homes on Christmas for only urgent reasons like work, health, visits to nearby loved ones or exercise close to home.The pandemic’s repercussions on life dominated Francis’ reflections on the past year.“At this moment in history, marked by the ecological crisis and grave economic and social imbalances only worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, it is all the more important for us to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters,” Francis said.Fraternity and compassion apply to people “even though they do not belong to my family, my ethnic group or my religion,” he said.Pope Francis, background second from left, delivers the Urbi et Orbi Christmas day blessing inside the blessing hall of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican on December 25, 2020. (Vatican Media via AP)-Francis prayed that the birth of Jesus would inspire people to be “generous, supportive and helpful” to those in need, including those struggling with ”the economic effects of the pandemic and women who have suffered domestic violence during these months of lockdown.”Noting that the “American continent” was particularly hard-hit by COVID-19, he said that the pandemic compounded suffering, “often aggravated by the consequences of corruption and drug trafficking.” In particular, he cited the suffering of the Venezuelan people.On a day when Christians recall Jesus as a baby, Francis drew attention to the “too many children in all the world, especially in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, who still pay the high price of war.”Among others he said sorely needed comfort at Christmas time were the Iraqi people, and “in particular the Yazidi, hard hit by the last years of war.” And, he said, “I cannot forget the Rohingya people,” adding that he hoped that Jesus, “born poor among the poor, will bring hope in their suffering.”
Israel travelsEchoes of ancient monks and conquerors-There tradition says Jesus spent his last night: Guide to Mt. of Olives churches-Houses of worship on the Jerusalem mountain bear the marks of the city’s past believers, builders and invaders-By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am-25 December 2020, 10:44 am
Sometime during his reign, King Herod Antipas murdered John the Baptist — at least that is what Roman historian Josephus Flavius recorded in his 1st-century volume “Antiquities of the Jews.” After the deed was done, according to the New Testament, Antipas severed John’s head from his body.Antipas’ superstitious sister-in-law, Herodias, believed that John had magic powers. Worried that if his head and body were buried together he would come back to haunt her, she threw the head into a rubbish heap. One tradition holds that a woman who saw Herodias toss the head into the trash carefully removed it, placed it in a clay pot, and buried it on the Mount of Olives.During the fourth century, two Syrian monks visited Jerusalem. They woke up on their first morning in the Holy City, and both reported having dreamed that John the Baptist appeared and told them where to find his head.At first, the monks didn’t take their dreams seriously. But when the same thing happened two more nights in a row, they took a pair of spades and dug where they had been told. And there, to the monks’ amazement, was the head.At the time, King Constantine was the ruler of the Byzantine Empire and his mother Helena was in Israel locating sites holy to Christianity. When she heard of the monks’ amazing discovery, Helena ordered a chapel erected on that holy spot. Clearly visible as it towers above the Mount of Olives, it is known today as the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension. And inside its chapel is the hollow in which John’s head was buried.Over a dozen churches are spread out along the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the New Testament, Jesus spent his last free night in agony over what was to come. Each house of worship boasts its own special style and its own unique story.Before the pandemic struck, hundreds of pilgrims wandered the slopes of the Mount of Olives daily and on Christian holidays there were thousands. Today, those of you who live abroad can only visit from afar. Here are but a few of the mount’s churches:Dominus Flevit-Catholic — Franciscan Order-Located on the upper slopes of the Mount of Olives-Two thousand years ago, when you descended the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem, an incomparable tableau unfolded before your eyes. The Holy Temple towered above the Kidron Valley — its marble columns and enormous bronze doors a shimmering vision in the morning sun. Indeed, the dazzle of the city’s glorious palaces and shiny white marble towers must have blinded the eyes of its beholders.As Jesus walked toward Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, he could have been overwhelmed by the glory of the sight. Knowing the tragic fate which would soon befall the Holy City, and aware of the devastation and desecration that lay in store, Jesus wept.Facing the Old City’s magnificent panorama is a sanctuary called Dominus Flevit, which means, in Latin, “the Lord wept.” To symbolize what occurred on or near this site, the sanctuary was fashioned in what the architect envisaged as a teardrop (look at it upside down to see the resemblance).“Flevit super illam,” by Spanish painter Enrique Simonet, depicts Jesus mourning on the Mount of Olives as he approaches Jerusalem as described in the Gospel of Luke. The Latin title of the 1892 painting means “He wept over it.” (Public domain)-One of the newest churches in Jerusalem, Dominus Flevit sits atop a very ancient site. During construction in 1955 archaeologists uncovered artifacts dating back to the Canaanite period as well as tombs from both the Second Temple and Byzantine eras. Also unearthed were the remains of a lovely Byzantine shrine with an elaborate mosaic floor.The chapel’s most remarkable feature is its arch-shaped picture window, purposely situated behind the altar. Thus worshipers and visitors have a stupendous view through the window of the contemporary Old City and the glittering golden Dome of the Rock.Church/Mosque of the Ascension-Under Islamic control-Located on the top of the Mount of Olives-The Mosque of the Ascension, built on the site where tradition says Jesus rose to heaven. Romans, Persians, Crusaders and Saladin’s army all left their mark on the site. (Shmuel Bar-Am)-Near the end of the fourth century, a wealthy Roman woman named Pomenia lived in Bethlehem with some friends. One day she ordered workers to build a church on the Mount of Olives — a rotunda open to the sky. Erected upon the site where tradition holds Jesus rose to heaven, her church was destroyed by the Persians less than 300 years later, during their conquest of the Holy Land.Crusaders reconstructed the shrine, but gave it an octagonal shape, added fortifications, and made it part of a chain of defensive citadels. From its position at the crest of the Mount of Olives, the Crusader church controlled the road between Jericho and Jerusalem.Saladin defeated the Crusaders in 1187, and the Church of the Ascension ended up in Muslim control. With little deference to the sanctuary’s truly unique architecture, the conquerors plugged up the spaces between its slender, decorative columns and enclosed the open ceiling within a dome. The shrine to Jesus’ Ascension had become a mosque.Although many a Crusader church was converted into a mosque after the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land, this one is of particular interest because a tradition endows it with a print of Jesus’ foot. Early pilgrims reported seeing the print indelibly implanted in the rock at the time of the ascension to heaven, located in the center of the original church. Today the print remains set in a venerated rock which the Muslims moved to one end of their mosque.-Church of all Nations and Gethsemane-Catholic – Franciscan Order-Located at the foot of the Mount of Olives-The Church of All Nations was built at the beginning of the 20th century with funding from Catholic communities worldwide. (Shmuel Bar-Am)-Theodosius the Great ruled the Byzantine Empire from 379 to 395. A fervent advocate of Christianity, he erected an elegant church on the Mount of Olives in 380 and called it the Basilica of the Agony. For according to the New Testament, it was here in a garden of olive trees that Jesus spent an agonizing night in prayer before he was arrested.Destroyed by the Persians in the 7th century, it was rebuilt a short distance away by the Crusaders, and demolished by invading Muslim forces several hundred years later. The church was resurrected at the beginning of the 20th century, when a striking new structure arose atop the ruins.Designed by renowned Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi in 1919 and inaugurated in 1924, the contemporary sanctuary is one of Jerusalem’s most stirring houses of worship. Indeed, its phenomenal golden mosaic and imposing facade combine to make the church exterior a Jerusalem landmark. Also known as the Church of All Nations, the new basilica was funded by Catholic communities from over a dozen different countries.
The Gethsemane garden, next to the Church of All Nations, is home to olive trees that are hundreds of years old. (Shmuel Bar-Am)-Next to the church, a large garden is filled with olive trees and called Gethsemane — which means “oil press,” in Hebrew. A few of the trees are so thick and gnarled that they could conceivably be over 1,000 years old; some researchers maintain that these are the original trees that witnessed Jesus’ agonizing last night on earth. Even if not quite that ancient, they are almost certainly offshoots of the olive trees which stood in the garden 2,000 years ago.Church of the Assumption — Mary’s Tomb-Greek Orthodox-Located in the Valley of Kidron at the foot of the Mount of Olives-The Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption, a shrine to the Virgin Mary, a portion of which was built by Crusaders. (Shmuel Bar-Am)-Although the New Testament doesn’t tell us what fate befell the Virgin Mary after the Crucifixion, it is widely believed that she died in Jerusalem. Indeed, tradition tells us that Mary fell into eternal sleep on Mount Zion and that her lifeless body was carried just outside of the Jerusalem walls for burial. Once there, Mary was lifted out of her tomb and “assumed” into the glory of heaven.The first shrine above Mary’s earthly burial and assumption site was built in the Byzantine era. It was shaped like a cross, with Mary’s tomb situated in the center. That sanctuary was destroyed by the Persians in the year 614. When the Crusaders erected a sanctuary over the tomb four centuries later, it naturally became known as the Church of the Assumption. The upper portion of the Crusader church was demolished by Saladin’s forces, but the lower part, the contemporary house of worship and the tomb itself, still remains.Seen from the sidewalk, the Church of the Assumption is not an impressive sight. That is because the original basilica, an integral part of the church, is located well below today’s street level. To reach Mary’s tomb and the assumption site, you descend a vaulted inner staircase and walk down almost 50 steps. Once inside, the church’s murky interior can be incredibly gloomy. And why shouldn’t it be — the tomb is located in a very ancient underground chamber.-Church of St. Mary Magdalene-Russian Orthodox-On the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives-The Church of St. Mary Magdalene, built by Alexander III of Russia and opened in 1888. (Shmuel Bar-Am)-Built by Alexander III of Russia, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene is probably the most conspicuous house of worship in Jerusalem. It owes its prominence to the presence of seven gilded, onion-shaped domes jutting out from a monumental Muscovite-style body that stands proudly against the sky.From a distance what you see of St. Mary Magdalene are its memorable bulb-like cupolas. But the building is as remarkable as its domes. Indeed, the palatial exterior features a mind-boggling variety of styles and decorations that is fascinating to behold. And although it appears to be made of marble, the facade is actually a stunning, sculpted white sandstone.Over the iconastasis — the eastern Orthodox partition that separates the prayer hall from the sanctuary — is an enormous canvas by 19th-century artist Aleksandr Ivanov. It illustrates a popular legend in which Mary travels to Rome to tell Emperor Tiberius of Jesus’ unfair trial and unjust sentence. It is said that Mary held an egg in her hand, representing life. But it turned red when she handed it to the emperor, thus becoming a living symbol of blood and resurrection. Quite possibly, this is the origin of the custom of dying eggs on the Easter holiday.—Adapted for The Times of Israel from Aviva Bar-Am’s book “Beyond the Walls: Churches of Jerusalem.”Shmuel Bar-Am is a licensed tour guide who provides private, customized tours in Israel for individuals, families and small groups.
Interview'People can look at the text with someone else's lenses' The Bible without Jesus? How two faiths can read the same text in dissonant ways-Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Brettler parse opposing interpretations Jews and Christians have of the same Bible, and make the argument that religion doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game-By Rich Tenorio-DEC 25,20-Today, 4:32 pm
For Christians, the birth of Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem two millennia ago was not only chronicled in the New Testament, but also prophesied centuries earlier in parts of the Hebrew Bible. It goes without saying that most Jewish readers view those passages of the Old Testament differently.A recently published book, “The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently,” seeks to offer some insight into how two faiths can have such disparate understandings of the same text.The book’s two co-authors — professors Amy-Jill Levine of Vanderbilt University and Marc Zvi Brettler of Duke University — are American Jews affiliated with Jewish Studies departments. Levine specializes in the New Testament and Brettler, who is currently based in Israel, focuses on the Hebrew Bible. As they explained in a recent joint Zoom interview with The Times of Israel, they hope their new book can help Jews and Christians understand each other better by examining how each faith interprets the same select passages of the Hebrew Bible.We’re not encouraging people to change religious beliefs,” Brettler emphasized. “We’re encouraging people on both sides of the divide to not see it as such a divide, but to look at these texts with somebody else’s lenses.”Levine and Brettler have been collaborating on this topic for some time now. In a previous project, they co-edited the “Jewish Annotated New Testament,” first published in 2011 with a second edition in 2017. A photo of the authors giving a copy of the book to Pope Francis in 2019 was shared widely in academic social media circles.Marc Zvi Brettler, left, and Amy-Jill Levine, center-right, give a copy of their previous book, the ‘Jewish Annotated New Testament’ to Pope Francis in March 2019. (Courtesy)-In the wake of the “Jewish Annotated New Testament,” the authors continued to note instances in which Jews and Christians seem unaware of the different ways the others’ faith interprets the same parts of the Hebrew Bible. This insight led the pair to realize there was another book they needed to write, said Levine.Their new book is built around parts of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, that Levine and Brettler identify as especially popular among Christians, starting from Adam and Eve to the term “Son of Man.”“We chose which passages would be most familiar to Christian readers from repeated use in the New Testament,” Levine said. “We also wanted passages that would be the most helpful to Jewish readers unfamiliar with the New Testament.”Amy-Jill Levine of Vanderbilt University, co-author of ‘The Bible With and Without Jesus.’ (Courtesy)-In each case, the authors look at the text’s interpretation in Christianity before delving into its interpretations among Jews.“We quote the text and what it does in its particular [New Testament] location — such as the Gospel of Matthew, of Mark, Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, and so on,” Levine said. Then, “we dip back to detail, as best as possible, how the text was understood in its original historical context,” as well as how it may have been understood by later Jewish interpreters, from the Dead Sea Scrolls, to Josephus, to medieval commentators such as renowned 11th-century biblical linguist Rashi [Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki] and Moses Maimonides.“For every chapter, we really had to do three different bodies of research,” Brettler said. “What the biblical text originally meant, what it meant in Christianity, and what it meant within Judaism.” He noted that “Jewish interpretation, in general, was much more diffuse than Christian interpretation. Lots of decisions were hard to make about which parts of Jewish interpretation to emphasize and include more than others.”Just who was Jesus, anyway? Joel Marcus, an emeritus professor of New Testament and Christian origins at Duke Divinity School and a colleague of Brettler’s, explained that disputes over Jesus’s historical role led to differing interpretations of the Hebrew Bible between Jews and Christians.Marcus said that “the earliest Christians were Jews,” but “most Jews eventually decided that Jesus was not the messiah, and controversy arose between Jews and Christians around the interpretation of many parts of Scripture.”For example, the Book of Isaiah from Chapter 40 onward is discussed in “The Bible With and Without Jesus.” Centuries after Jesus’s death, the term “suffering servant” was coined among early Christians to infuse these passages with a Christian interpretation that they foretell Jesus.These passages in Isaiah feature “a mysterious figure called the Servant,” Marcus said. “Sometimes it seems pretty clear Israel itself is the servant. Sometimes the servant seems to be an individual figure. Sometimes it seems to have a collective nature.” Overall, he said, “the identity of the figure seems to oscillate between an individual and a collective reference.”“I think maybe early Christians noticed that,” Marcus said. “It helped them in their relating those sections to Jesus, who in Christian understanding is an individual figure and also a figure with a collective dimension.”“For Jesus’s followers, pretty much everything in Israel’s Scriptures pointed to him,” Levine said. “Thus the text came to have a singular meaning.”Early Christians began reinterpreting other parts of the Hebrew Bible through a Christ-centered lens. They found prophecies of the Nativity narrative in some of the texts examined by Levine and Brettler, such as other parts of Isaiah and the Book of Jeremiah.Levine holds that such texts can “add to the familiar Christmas story,” taking it beyond the contemporary understanding of “Santa Claus, a Christmas tree, presents, something about a baby.” She sees the Bethlehem narrative as “not just a sweet story about a boy left in a manger, a bunch of wise people, individuals from the East, with frankincense and myrrh,” but one with “historical context in the Roman Empire, children in danger, political oppression, forced emigration, the plight of the immigrants, international relations, economics, politics, echoes of Israel’s history, a stunningly profound story.”The Gospel of Matthew links Jesus’s virgin birth to prophecies in Isaiah, and of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents in Jeremiah. Yet, Levine said, the original Hebrew words in Isaiah meant a young woman who is pregnant, not a virgin who will become pregnant, while Jeremiah 31 is about Rachel weeping for her children, “no more.”“Matthew glosses over how some of these [Old Testament] individuals functioned in their original context,” Levine said. “Our understanding of Matthew becomes increased by our understanding of post-biblical Judaism… The more you know about how texts were read in antiquity, the more robust your knowledge of your own sacred scripture will become.”Walking in a mine field-Levine and Brettler recognize that the terrain they are venturing upon has been fraught for much of history. They reference polemics by Jews and Christians in which the authors condemn the inability of the other faith to see things their way.“Part of the basic issue is that we tend through history to be ‘either-or,’ not ‘both-and,’” Levine said. “‘If Christians are right, Jews must be wrong, and vice-versa. Christians claim that Jews fail to see Jesus in their own scriptures. Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians of Jews reading their scripture through a veil that is only removed when they accept Jesus as lord. That’s a polemical mindset.”“There does not have to be only one way to read,” said Levine.Levine and Brettler are hopeful that today, there are more opportunities for mutual understanding.“This really is an era of very significant Jewish-Christian detente,” Brettler said. “There are a lot more attempts at churches and synagogues to try to understand the other without converting them.”“Times really have changed,” he added. “It’s been more than 50 years since the Second Vatican Council. It’s been slow change, but continuing change.”James McGrath, the chair of New Testament language and literature at Butler University and an American Baptist, agreed that things have changed in a positive way.“There’s now a vibrant, very, very flourishing wealth of Jewish interpretations of the New Testament,” McGrath said. “People are actively investigating it.”McGrath looks forward to reading “The Bible With and Without Jesus,” which he has requested at his local library and is considering using as a textbook. A specialist in biblical interpretation himself, he is working on a project about where John the Baptist fits into the history of Judaism.People can hear the same thing and it means different things to them-“People can hear the same thing and it means different things to them,” McGrath said. “Sometimes it reflects the original context, sometimes less so.”He said that in Christianity, Isaiah “gets probably more focus than pretty much any other book in the Hebrew Bible,” and that in churches on Christmas, when Christians “quote” Isaiah as saying, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive…,” they “do not mention other references in their original context — King Ahaz, the Assyrians, things of that sort.”James McGrath, chair of New Testament language and literature at Butler University. (Courtesy)-Marcus, Brettler’s colleague at Duke, has a faith trajectory reflecting the differing ways in which he has read the same texts over time, including Isaiah.Growing up in a Jewish family, he converted to Christianity — first, with what he describes as more fundamentalist forms, and now as a member of the Episcopal church. Today he identifies as both Jewish and Christian. When he reads the “suffering servant” songs in Isaiah, he said, “I still think it sounds a lot like Jesus as he is portrayed in the New Testament.” He said that he thinks “what a text means, and comes to mean, can transcend what the author himself or herself meant it to mean.” However, he said, “I also think it’s important to try to discover what the text originally meant to the original authors and audiences.”Boston University emeritus Scripture professor Paula Fredriksen. (Courtesy)-For Boston University emeritus Scripture professor Paula Fredriksen, a visiting professor of comparative religion at Hebrew University, the topic of how Jews and Christians read the Hebrew Bible differently may be news for some lay audiences but not for academics with a comparative religion background.The latter “compare different religions all the time,” she said, including through “other fields” such as anthropology, literary criticism and classics.Fredriksen noted that just as differing opinions exist between Jews and Christians, there are also varying intra-faith interpretations in Christianity. For example, whereas Christians in the West celebrate Christmas Day on December 25, some Orthodox Christians will celebrate it on January 7.“December 25 is the Western Roman date for Christmas,” she said. “It’s not the case on different Christian calendars.”However you celebrate your holidays, “The Bible With and Without Jesus” indicates the great gift of interfaith understanding.“Ideally, it will [be translated into] various languages,” Levine said. “Jews are interested in Christianity, Christians are interested in Judaism. Ideally, they will start to talk about each other in increasingly informed and respectful ways.”
13 Thou shalt not kill.(Murder)(THAT INCLUDES ABORTION)
MATTHEW 18:6
6 But whoso shall offend (HURT) one of these little ones (CHILDREN) which believe in me,(JESUS) it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY FOLKS)
EXODUS 21:12
12 He that smiteth (MURDER)a man,(OR BABY) so that he die, shall be surely put to death.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY PEOPLE)
REVELATION 9:20-21
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils,(OCCULT) and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,(DRUG ADDICTIONS) nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
Explosion hits gas pipeline in Egypt’s Sinai, no casualties-Authorities probe cause of blast in restive region; officials say blast will not affect supply to el-Arish area-By AP-DEC 25,20-Today, 3:27 pm
EL-ARISH, Egypt — An explosion at a key natural gas pipeline in Egypt’s restive northern Sinai Peninsula caused a fire but no human casualties, a senior official said North Sinai Governor Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha said the explosion took place late Thursday in el-Arish, the provincial capital. In a statement, he said the explosion will not affect the pipeline’s supply to el-Arish’s residential areas or an industrial zone in central Sinai.An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the blast, Shousha said.However, other security officials and eyewitnesses said militants planted explosives on the pipeline before fleeing the scene. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, and the eyewitnesses asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.A similar explosion hit a gas pipeline in northern Sinai last month and was claimed by the Islamic State group affiliate.IS said militants detonated several explosive devices to damage a pipeline that carries natural gas from Egypt to Israel. The group offered no proof for its claim.Egypt has for years been battling an insurgency in northern Sinai that’s now led by the IS affiliate. Fighting intensified in 2013, after the military overthrew the country’s elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.Authorities heavily restrict access to northern Sinai, making it difficult to verify claims related to the fighting.IS has carried out a number of large-scale attacks in Egypt in recent years, mainly targeting members of the security forces and Egypt’s Christian minority.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)(NUKED BY SNEAK ATTACK FROM RUSSIA)
IN REVELATION 17 & 18 IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL BABYLONS.IF YOU CAN NOT DECERN BETWEEN THE 2 BABYLONS IN REV 17 & 18.YOU WILL JUST THINK THEIR BOTH THE SAME.BUT NO-THERES A RELIGIOUS BABYLON (THE VATICAN IN REV 17)(AND THE POLITICAL BABYLON IN REV 18 (AMERICA OR NEW YORK TO BE EXACT)
ISAIAH 34:10
10 It (AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
031 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32 And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D) and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)
COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(AMERICA) and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE ATTACK ON AM
Satellite images show airstrike damage to weapons facilities in Syria-Private intelligence firm releases photographs of aftermath of Friday pre-dawn attacks attributed to Israel against missile production complex near Masyaf-By Agencies and TOI staff-DEC 25,20-Today, 11:03 pm
Four weapons manufacturing facilities were destroyed in northwestern Syria early Friday morning in a series of airstrikes attributed to Israel, according to satellite images released by a private Israeli intelligence firm.Syria’s official news agency SANA said the attack occurred near the town of Masyaf and that the missiles were fired from Lebanese territory.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-Syrian opposition organization, claimed the strikes hit positions of Iran-backed militias and killed at least six foreign paramilitaries. The claim could not be verified. It said the strikes targeted the Iran-backed groups’ arms depots and facilities for manufacturing short-range missiles.According to the satellite imagery analysis company ImageSat International, the airstrikes Friday destroyed four weapons production buildings “that were probably used for mixing and casting components of missile engines and warheads.”The targets appeared to be part of a factory complex whose primary mission is the production of “missile engines, rockets and warheads,” the satellite company said, citing open-source reports. One of the destroyed buildings had been rebuilt following a previous attack, the company indicated.#Syria, #Masyaf: SSM Facility #Attack’s (25 December 2020) Aftermath – An SSM Engines or #Warheads Production Building pic.twitter.com/13Co9K9srU — ImageSat Intl. (@ImageSatIntl) December 25, 2020-Before-and-after images from the site show a destroyed series of structures in the airstrikes.Masyaf is a significant military area for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime that includes a military academy and a scientific research center. The general area around Masyaf, which is also believed to have a major Iranian presence, has reportedly been targeted by Israel many times in the past.The Associated Press said Israeli jets flew very low over parts of Lebanon before the strikes, including over Beirut, frightening some of the city’s residents.The Syrian Ministry of Defense issued a statement Friday saying Israel “launched an aggression by directing a barrage of rockets” from the north of the Lebanese city of Tripoli toward the Masyaf area.It said Syrian air defenses “confronted the enemy missiles and intercepted most of them.” Syrian war analysts generally dismiss the military’s regular claims of interceptions as false, empty boasts.Syrian state TV aired footage purporting to show air defenses responding to the Israeli attack.There was no comment from the Israel Defense Forces, which generally maintains a policy of ambiguity regarding its activities against Iran and its proxies in Syria, refusing to publicly acknowledge its actions.The last reported Israeli strikes in Syria took place a month ago in the southern part of the country, near Israel’s border with Syria on the Golan Heights, and reportedly targeted sites associated with Iran and its proxies.The IDF has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011 against moves by Iran to establish a permanent military presence in the country and efforts to transport advanced, game-changing weapons to terrorist groups in the region, principally Hezbollah.
Reuters-Ireland breathes sigh of relief as 'least bad' Brexit deal clinched-Thu, December 24, 2020, 11:52 AM EST
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin expressed relief on Thursday after neighbouring Britain agreed a last-minute trade deal with the European Union which he said was the "least bad version of Brexit possible".Ireland, the EU member state most exposed to the fall-out from Britain's departure, was an important player during four rocky years of exit negotiations in which it sought to shelter its highly exposed agricultural sector and avoid a hard border infrastructure with the British region of Northern Ireland."There is no such thing as a good Brexit for Ireland, but... I believe the agreement reached today is the least bad version of Brexit possible, given current circumstances," Martin said after Britain and the EU announced the deal.While Irish firms have diversified into new markets since 2016, cutting trade to Britain to 9% of total Irish goods exports last year, its nearest neighbour still accounts for around one-third of its food and agricultural exports.That sector would have been battered by heavy tariffs if Britain had left the EU on World Trade Organization terms. Ireland's large beef industry, which sells almost half of what it produces to Britain, would have been subject to tariffs of 72%.Preserving the delicate peace in Northern Ireland without allowing the United Kingdom a back door into the EU's single market through the 310-mile UK-Irish land border was one of the most difficult issues during the first phase of talks, which culminated in the Withdrawal Agreement in late 2019.The British government angered the Irish government by threatening to unilaterally scrap elements of that deal, but withdrew the threat as the outline of a trade deal emerged in recent weeks."The peace process had been protected, peace funding has been protected, Ireland's place in the single market of the EU has been protected," Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told RTE radio.While Ireland's large pharmaceutical and multinational tech sector has shielded the economy from the worst of the COVID-19 crisis, around 20% of its workforce is now permanently or temporarily unemployed. That means it could ill-afford what Martin said could have been a second "appalling" economic shock from a "no-deal" British exit from the EU.Ireland based its budget for 2021 on the assumption that the talks would fail. A deal could add 3-4 percentage points to the finance department's gross domestic product forecast range of +1.7% to -2.1% for next year, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said at the time."Businesses in Ireland and across the UK can breathe a collective sigh of relief today," the British Irish Chamber said in a statement.(Reporting by Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
IDF reportedly strikes Gaza after rockets fired into Israel-Palestinian media says Israel attacked targets in central part of Strip after 2 projectiles fired across border-By TOI staff-26 December 2020, 1:26 am
Palestinian media reported Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday morning, after rockets were fired from the Strip into Israel on Friday evening.The Shehab news agency, which is affiliated with the Hamas terror group that controls the Strip, reported attacks in the central part of the territory.Earlier, two rockets fired from Gaza were shot down by the Iron Dome anti-missile system. There were no reports of injuries or damage.The Israeli military confirmed that the projectiles fired into Israel were intercepted by soldiers operating the air defense system.Sirens warning of the incoming rockets blared in several southern Israeli communities near Gaza, sending residents into shelters. The Red Alert sirens sounded in Ashkelon, Zikim, Netiv Ha’asara and nearby towns in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council.Last month, two rockets fired from Gaza struck open areas along the coast — one near the city of Ashdod and the other on Palmachim Beach, south of Tel Aviv — causing no significant damage or injuries.Soldiers operating the Iron Dome air defense system attempted to shoot down the rocket fired toward Palmachim Beach, firing at least two interceptor missiles at the projectile, but did not bring it down. Fragments of an interceptor missile landed in the nearby city of Bat Yam, causing minor damage.The rocket fire last month came days after the one-year anniversary of the killing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu al-Ata.Israel has fought three large campaigns against terror groups in the Strip since Hamas took control of the area in 2007, along with dozens of smaller exchanges of fire.
THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).
EEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 11:21-2321 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
GENESIS 25:20-26
20 And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)
Normalizing with Israel, Arab states look to gain powerful ally in Washington-Israel has lobbied on behalf of countries willing to establish ties, and others hoping for the same kind of muscle on the Hill are likely taking notice-By Jacob MagidDEC 25,20-Today, 11:44 pm
NEW YORK — Less than 24 hours passed between Senate Democrats failing to block US President Donald Trump’s administration from selling F-35 fighter jets and other advanced arms to the United Arab Emirates and the announcement that Morocco had agreed to re-establish official diplomatic relations with Israel.There is no direct linkage between Rabat’s move and the massive arms sale, which many believe would not have gone forward had Israel not given the deal its own imprimatur following Abu Dhabi’s agreement to normalize with Israel several months earlier. But the proximity of the two events still served to underscore how Jerusalem’s ability to throw its weight around Washington likely factors into the calculus as Arab countries mull establishing diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.One diplomat from an Arab country described Israel’s “reach” in Washington as a selling point that goes well beyond arms deals.For decades, Arab regimes looking to purchase advanced arms from the US have been stymied by the US commitment to safeguard Israel’s qualitative military edge, or QME, in the region, essentially giving Israel a veto over weapons sales.Protecting the QME played at least a partial role in holding up the UAE’s attempt to buy F-35 fighter jets, Reaper drones and other advanced weaponry that would match or outpace US arms sold to the Israel Defense Forces.On the record, the US, Israel and the UAE have all insisted that the eventual $23 billion arms deal was not part of normalization talks. But Trump officials have acknowledged that the agreement put Abu Dhabi in a better position to receive such advanced weaponry. A source with direct knowledge of the talks told The Times of Israel in September that both the US and Israel knew that the arms sale was “very much part of the deal” as the F-35s were of critical importance to the UAE.Once Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz publicly gave their blessings for the deal, opposition to the sale on Capitol Hill was effectively neutralized.The vote on the arms deal-blocking resolution was close and fell almost entirely along party lines, but the bipartisan respect for Israel’s military superiority in the region along with the normalization agreement’s backing on both sides of the aisle helped bring the weapons purchase across the finish line.Reaching beyond arms-Congress had already soured on the Emiratis due to their involvement in the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen, which helped create what has been called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. But even after Abu Dhabi effectively pulled out in 2019, the arms deal was seemingly unable to go through until Israel gave its okay.According to the Arab diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, this was a sign of US lawmakers’ “respect for Israel.” And others took notice.“This [arms deal] emboldens other countries in the region who are looking to gain access to weapons that, until now, had been off-limits,” said the diplomat, whose government does not have formal relations with the Jewish state.“But it’s not just about weapons. Israel’s reach in Washington can be tapped for other goals, and that certainly makes normalization more enticing, despite the domestic risks,” he added.Israel’s perceived muscle in Washington’s halls of power was already legion in some circles before the Trump administration’s transactional approach to international relations put it on steroids. Suddenly arms, support for controversial moves, or other types of backing could be had for the price of normalization with Israel, or even just talks.A source who served as an adviser to President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign said that Arab state’s understanding of Israeli clout in Washington “is a little exaggerated,” but that the Trump administration “did little to dispel the perception” by tying the United States’ bilateral relations with other countries to the question of Israel normalization.”David Makovsky, a scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Arab states realized that the Trump administration’s approach meant that they could get top dollar for normalization, even on matters unconnected to Israel. Plus, by going with Israel, they were “purchasing… political risk insurance [for] a post-Trump era because peace with Israel has broad support.”Jerusalem wasn’t only happy to come along for the ride, but may have even been in the driver’s seat, lobbying Washington on behalf of Arab states willing to make nice.According to an Axios report, it was a team of former Israeli officials who first came up with the proposal offering US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty in the disputed territory of Western Sahara in exchange for Rabat agreeing to normalize ties with the Jewish state.The news site also reported that Israeli officials lobbied their US counterparts in favor of Washington removing Sudan from its blacklist of state terror sponsors in exchange for Khartoum agreeing to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.Saudi Arabia, which has thus far held off on normalizing with Israel, may also be looking to take advantage of the opportunity to get Israel in its corner, the Arab diplomat who spoke to The Times of Israel speculated.He referenced recent reports that during Netanyahu’s covert visit to Saudi Arabia last month, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushed the Israeli premier to assist in Riyadh’s efforts to smooth over its ties with Washington, seemingly dangling normalization with the Jewish state in exchange.However, Makovsky argued that normalization with Israel will not be “a get-out-of-jail-free card because these countries will still have to answer for their [human rights-related] issues.”Then-US Vice President Joseph Biden, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, talk before a dinner at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, Pool)-“It’s helpful, but not necessarily decisive,” he said, suggesting that Biden would move away from the Trump formula for pushing Arab states to normalize with Israel.Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, Tony Blinken, told ToI that the next administration would still seek to advance such agreements, but criticized their apparent “quid pro quo” nature under Trump.The president-elect has also made clear that he plans to reset Washington’s relations with Riyadh to a point where it will be held more accountable for its human rights record. This is something that normalization with Israel would likely not be enough to paper over, Makovsky said.But that’s not to say that Israel’s influence only has value during Republican administrations.US President Barack Obama, right, meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, left, Thursday, September 25, 2014, in New York. (AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)-Netanyahu’s government was one of the few around the world that lobbied the Obama administration in favor of recognizing Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as the rightful leader of Egypt after he took over the country in a 2013 military coup. Then-president Barack Obama ultimately got behind the autocrat and re-instated $1.3 billion dollars in military aid, at Israel’s behest.With Obama’s former vice president about to enter office, regimes still weighing normalizing with Israel are hoping that influence remains.“There’s no question that these countries are looking for support on the Hill at the start of new era,” Makovsky said. “But the question is whether that support will be decisive in a way that will extract them from some of the challenges they face.”
Netanyahu speaks to king of Morocco, invites him to visit Israel-In first call since normalization announcement, leaders congratulate one another, discuss ways to advance deal in coming weeks-By TOI staff-DEC 25,20-Today, 8:58 pm 0
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Friday for the first time since the two countries agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations earlier this month.The two leaders congratulated one another on the agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, which included the White House agreeing to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region.During the “warm and friendly” conversation, Netanyahu extended an invitation for King Mohammed VI to visit Israel and the two agreed to continue contacts in order to advance the normalization agreement in the weeks ahead, the Prime Minister’s Office said.“The leaders congratulated each other over the renewal of ties between the countries, the signing of the joint statement with the US, and the agreements between the two countries,” according to the statement from Netanyahu’s office.“In addition, the processes and mechanisms to implement the agreements were determined,” it added.The Moroccan king’s royal office issued a statement saying that, in his conversation with Netanyahu, the monarch recalled “the strong and special ties” between the Jewish community in Morocco and the monarchy and reiterated “the consistent, unwavering and unchanged position of the Kingdom of Morocco on the Palestinian issue and the pioneering role of the kingdom in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East.”On Wednesday, Morocco’s tourism minister announced that direct flights will begin operating between Israel and Morocco within two or three months,A joint Israeli-American delegation visited Morocco on Tuesday to sign several bilateral agreements and a trilateral declaration to solidify the normalization agreement.The group’s flight to Rabat was the first direct commercial flight from Israel to Morocco.The delegation held high-level talks with Moroccan officials, including King Mohammed VI, and Israel and Morocco announced they would move to swiftly reopen diplomatic missions in each country. The two countries previously operated liaison offices in each other’s lands which were closed some 20 years ago.Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, and Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat led the delegation.Morocco was the third Arab state this year to normalize ties with Israel under US-brokered deals, joining the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Sudan has also announced plans to normalize ties with Israel, though no official agreements have been signed.Morocco is home to North Africa’s largest Jewish community, which has been there since ancient times and grew with the arrival of Jews expelled from Spain by Catholic kings from 1492.It reached about 250,000 in the late 1940s, 10 percent of the national population, but many Jews left after the creation of Israel in 1948, many fleeing local hostilities directed at them over the establishment of the Jewish state.About 3,000 Jews remain in Morocco, and the Casablanca community is one of the country’s most active.Israel, meanwhile, is home to 700,000 Jews of Moroccan origin.
'Our heart desires to move ties with them to a better point' After years of acrimony, Turkey’s Erdogan says he’d like better ties with Israel - Amid multiple reports of covert overtures between nations, some analysts see Ankara as seeking to start off relations with new, less friendly US administration on the right foot-By TOI staff-dec 25,20-Today, 2:29 pm
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wished to improve ties with Israel, after long years of making repeated bellicose comments toward the Jewish state.“Our relations with Israel on intelligence have not ceased anyway, they are still continuing,” Erdogan said during a press conference. “We have some difficulties with the people at the top.”He stressed that Ankara “cannot accept the attitude of Israel towards the Palestinian lands,” and that “we differ from Israel in terms of our understanding of both justice and the territorial integrity of countries.”But, he noted: “Otherwise, our heart desires that we can move our relations with them to a better point.”Turkey, once a strong Muslim ally of Israel, has become a geopolitical foe under Erdogan. The Turkish leader, an ardent defender of the Palestinian cause and a fierce critic of Israel, has often engaged in diatribes against Israel, including most recently in September during an address to the United Nations General Assembly.Still, Ankara has continued to maintain open ties with the Jewish state, including on tourism and trade.Erdogan’s comments come after a recent report on al-Monitor said Turkey had picked a new ambassador to Israel to fill the diplomatic post left vacant for over two years.Some analysts have commented that with the coming change in US administrations and the arrival of Joe Biden, a president expected to be far less friendly to Erdogan than outgoing Donald Trump, Ankara is hoping to curry favor with Washington through gestures toward Israel.Axios reported Thursday that Azerbaijan is attempting to mediate between the countries to improve relations. The report said aides to Azeri President Ilham Aliyev told Israeli officials Erdogan was in favor of improving ties.The aides claimed that Erdogan was not anti-Israel, but had merely been under the influence of advisers who no longer hold sway.Days ago a foreign policy adviser to Erdogan, Mesut Casin, told Voice of America: “If Israel comes one step, Turkey maybe can come two steps…If we see a green light, Turkey will open the embassy again and return our ambassador. Maybe in March, we can restore full diplomatic relations again. Why not.”He added: “Establishing peace and security is very important to Israel and Turkey.”An analyst on Turkish-Israeli relations told VOA Ankara’s sudden change in stance may be a result of the coming change in US administrations.“Turkish-American relations are expected to enter a tough period, at least in the short run, considering the Biden administration’s sensitivity toward issues of democracy and human rights,” Selin Nasi said. “Given the anti-Turkish opinion prevalent in the US Congress, Turkey might be hoping that Israel can neutralize the opposition and help Turkey win Washington’s ear again.”Al-Monitor reported in late November that Turkey had recently opened a covert channel with Jerusalem in an effort to mend ties. It said Hakan Fidan, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, had held a number of meetings with top Israeli defense officials, including the head of Mossad Yossi Cohen.Erdogan’s comments also come amid burgeoning ties between Israel and Arab nations, with Jerusalem recently agreeing to establish full relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. Erdogan has condemned those normalization deals.He and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regularly trade harshly-worded barbs, calling each other terrorists and mass murderers.Israel and Turkey formally ended a six-year diplomatic rift in 2016. The spat began in 2010 when 10 Turkish activists were killed in a violent confrontation with Israeli naval commandos aboard the Mavi Marmara ship that aimed to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel said the soldiers were violently attacked by those on board.Then in May 2018, after violent protests on the Gaza border in which over 60 Palestinians, most of them members of Hamas and other terror groups, were killed, Erdogan placed the blame for the deaths squarely on Israel, calling it a “terrorist state” that commits “genocide.”Turkey then recalled its ambassador and expelled Israel’s ambassador, Eitan Na’eh, and consul in Istanbul.
SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.
GENESIS 1:5,145 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)
SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS-CHEMICAL WEAPONS
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL/NUCLEAR) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
REVELATION 16:21 80-120LB HAIL ON HUMANS
21And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent:(80-120 LBS) and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,221 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED) there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
