Middle East Peace?

On May 14, 2018, Israel will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish nation. 70 is clearly one of several numbers that have special significance in the Bible (Jacob took 70 people to Egypt; Israel spent 70 years in Babylon; There are 70 weeks of Daniel; 70 members of the Sanhedrin, etc.).

It seems logical that 2018 could be a significant year in the history of Israel. I cannot predict the future, but two startling events are shaping up.

First, Pres. Trump clearly intends to release a peace proposal in 2018; and one startling fact about this is the likelihood that Israel, most of the Arabs, and the PA will come to some kind of agreement.

The peace proposal that Pres. Trump’s advisors are working on is much more than a U.S. creation. It is the product of several weeks of behind the scenes discussions with Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and others. It is being hailed as a Trump proposal, but it is actually the creation of many entities.

Peace negotiations have taken place and failed for almost 70 years. Those that are working on this proposal appear to have reached the conclusion that 70 years of negotiations are enough. The time to solve the issue has come.

There are reports that the old plans are dead and the U.S., Israel and several Arab nations are working on a new proposal that will be pre-approved (accepted before it is made public).

Mahmoud Abbas and the PA are expected to object to the proposal, so the Saudis have already ordered Mr. Abbas to get on board or resign. The Saudis pay his salary and that of his staff, so it will be hard for him to refuse to comply.

Egypt and Jordan have objected to past plans, but they have been involved in the discussions this time, and they are cooperating with Saudi Arabia.

Egypt and Jordan are expected to voice some minor objections, but it is a foregone conclusion that they will eventually accept the pre-approved proposal. Egypt is even offering the PA land in the Sinai that can be annexed to Gaza.

Very significant is the fact that Saudi Arabia and most of the 21 Arab nations said very little when Pres. Trump issued his Dec. 6, 2017 Proclamation that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel.

Very significant also is the fact that they said very little when the White House said they can’t envision the Western Wall (on the Temple Mount) not being part of Israel.

Very significant again is the fact that two Arab nations (Turkey and Jordan) tried to get Saudi Arabia and the other Arabs to attend an emergency meeting of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to denounce Pres. Trump’s Proclamation, but the Saudis and others refused to attend.

Feeding into this is the fact that Saudi Arabia and Egypt are unhappy with the fact that Mahmoud Abbas has been unnecessarily friendly with the Iranian-backed terrorists in Gaza. Saudi Arabia and Egypt want something done about Iran, and Mr. Abbas is leaning toward the wrong side. He has offended his Saudi and Egyptian allies.

The Saudis and Egypt are obviously interested in a coalition with the U.S. and Israel.

Egypt helped the PA draft a resolution to set aside Pres. Trump’s Proclamation on moving the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but Egypt knew that the U.S. could kill it with a veto.

On Dec. 19, 2017, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was still fighting the Trump Administration’s efforts to draft a peace proposal, and the Saudis called him in and warned him to get on board a second time.

Second, it looks like 2018 could also produce an Arab war with Iran (ethnos against ethnos), or it could be the year that Iran and others attack Israel (Gog and Magog). Something must be done soon about Iran’s progress in the development of nuclear weapons or it will be too late to stop her.

In 2015, over the objections of Saudi Arabia, Israel and others; the U.S., UK, China, Russia, France and Germany signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran that would supposedly (but disputedly) stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, limit Iran’s missile development and restrict Iran’s sale of certain weapons to other nations.

There is much more to it, but on Oct. 13, 2017, Pres. Trump refused to certify that Iran is keeping the JCPOA. He made a case for attacking Iran and gave Congress 60 days to act before he did anything. The 60 days are up and Congress hasn’t acted.

The next move is now up to Pres. Trump, and some think he will withdraw the U.S. from the JCPOA in January 2018. Withdrawing the U.S. from its treaty with Iran would be a big deal.

Iran has shipped weapons (including missiles to Yemen) and built weapons facilities in Lebanon and Syria (possibly in violation of JCPOA). Iran has urged jihadists to fire rockets into Israel, refused to pull her troops out of Syria, threatened to send 80,000 Shiite fighters into the Middle East, and Yemen has fired an Iranian missile at Saudi Arabia’s public airport.

On Dec. 18, 2017, Pres. Trump released a document that lays out his national security doctrine. It says the Middle East crisis is caused by Iran and radical Islamic terrorists, not Israel.

The war drums are beating in the White House, Israel, Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. It looks like a coalition is forming to settle their differences, sign a peace treaty and reshape the Middle East.

This brings up many questions that can’t be sorted out right now (Psa. 83, destruction of Damascus, Gog and Magog, destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, etc.), but it is enough to ask could 2018 be the year that these startling events take place?

If it is, the world will be very different 12 months from now.

Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond & Rachel Duck
duck_daymond@yahoo.com

I have often said (and heard people say), “I think the Rapture is close,” “We are SOOO close,” “I don’t see how the Rapture could not be close,” and more.

No one knows the day or the hour of the Rapture, so it is important to understand some of the reasons why people think this way.

First, many students of Bible prophecy know that the Tribulation Period will begin when the Antichrist confirms a covenant (peace agreement) with many for one week of years (7 years; Dan. 9:27).

There are differences of opinion, but some of these people believe in the pre-Trib Rapture (the idea that the Rapture will take place before the Tribulation Period begins (Zeph. 1:15; I Thess. 1:10, 5:9, etc.).

They know that Pres. Trump has promised to release his peace proposal in the next few weeks. A peace proposal is different from a peace treaty, and it is different from the Antichrist confirming a treaty; but a breakthrough could turn Pres. Trump’s peace proposal into a peace treaty in need of confirmation.

History is littered with failed Middle East peace proposals, but reports that Saudi Arabia has ordered PA Pres. Mahmoud Abbas to accept Pres. Trump’s proposal or resign means that things could be very different this time.

One of the big obstacles has been Arab refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish nation. It now appears that some of the Arabs have changed their position.

If a peace treaty is on the horizon, the Rapture is close.

Second, in that day (at the end of the age), war will break out between Israel and Syria (Isa. 17:1-14).

In late Nov. 2017, at Israel’s request, Russia delivered a warning from Israel to Syria: If you let Iran set up bases in Syria, we will attack them.

In early Dec. 2017, Israel attacked bases in Syria on at least two different occasions; and on Dec. 4, 2017, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. said war on Israel’s border could be just weeks (not months or years) away.

If war between Israel and Syria is just weeks away, the end of the age is close.

Third, on Dec. 6, 2017, Pres. Trump signed a Proclamation to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel and to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Although it will probably take a while to settle the issues surrounding the borders of Jerusalem and the controversy over the Temple Mount, many influential Jewish groups believe Pres. Trump’s Proclamation was a major step toward rebuilding the Temple.

But rebuilding the Temple is something that many evangelical Christians think will happen after the Rapture and very early in the Tribulation Period. They believe the Jews will accept the Antichrist as their Messiah, and the covenant he confirms will give them permission to rebuild the Temple (Jn. 5:43).

Anyway, if Pres. Trump’s Proclamation is a major step toward rebuilding the Temple, it is a major step toward the Rapture, because that will take place first.

Fourth, Mark Zell, head of the Republican Party in Israel, said Pres. Trump’s Proclamation “is part of a larger plan to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

In the latter years and latter days (Ezek. 38:16), a war called the Battle of Gog and Magog will break out between Israel and Iran (Ezek. 38-39). Troops from Iran and her allies (Russia, Turkey and others) will die on the mountains of Israel.

As noted above, Iran has recently established bases in Syria, and Israel has attacked them. Iran is also striving to build nuclear weapons, and Pres. Trump’s Proclamation appears to be part of a plan to stop that.

When this war breaks out, the latter years and latter days have arrived, and the Rapture is close.

Fifth, when asked about the signs of His coming and the end of the age (Matt. 24:3), Jesus responded, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree (Israel); When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves (starting to grow), ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors” (Matt. 24:32-33).

100 years ago, there was no Fig Tree nation of Israel. However, on Nov. 2, 1917, England’s Balfour Declaration called for the creation of a homeland for the Jews.

70 years ago, on Nov. 29, 1947, the UN Partition Plan called for the creation of a homeland for the Jews in Palestine. The Fig Tree nation of Israel came into being on May 14, 1948.

50 years ago, on June 5-10, 1967, the Six-Day War took place, and the Fig Tree nation of Israel grew by capturing East Jerusalem and the West Bank; but the UN refused to recognize that these areas were part of Israel.

On Dec. 6, 2017, Pres. Trump recognized that East Jerusalem belongs to Israel.

In 100 years (1917–2017), the Fig Tree nation of Israel has grown from a barren wasteland to a thriving nation of more than 7 million people that is the envy of the world.

This truth alone (the official expansion of Israel’s borders and development of the nation) causes many students of Bible prophecy to know that it is near (close), even at the doors.

Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond & Rachel Duck
duck_daymond@yahoo.com