Friday, February 18, 2011

In the news: More from the Middle East

Pushing Al Jazeera on Americans

Recently, the Boston Globe (owned by the New York Times) published an op-ed by Juliette Kayyem advocating that more American cable companies carry Al Jazeera

What could go wrong? What harm could more inflammatory misinformation cause? Al Jazeera is filled with Muslim speakers promoting anti-Americanism, anti-Semitism and calling for violence.

But what is of interest is the background of Juliette Kayyem: President Obama appointed her to serve as the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. One would think that a key official at the Department of Homeland Security would see the danger of Al Jazeera being broadcast all over America.

Furthermore, she hails from Harvard's Belfer Center. This was the congenial home for none other than Stephen Walt who wrote (along with John Mearsheimer) a screed against Israel's supporters in America (Christian and Jewish ). He also advocates a weakening of ties between America and Israel and rapprochement with the Muslim world.


Netanyahu lets Egypt build up its Sinai army

Without serious aforethought, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have waved through another 3,000 Egyptian troops into North Sinai, topping their number up to 4,000 and virtually scrapping the key demilitarization clause of the 1979 peace treaty.

Senior Israeli military officers report that Israel posed no conditions for its permission then or now – not even demanding a timeline for their withdrawal so that Sinai might revert to the military-free buffer status which buttressed the peace for 32 years.

There is little doubt in the IDF's high command that the Egyptian troops are in Sinai to stay, whereas Israel's forces on the their side of the border are seriously undermanned for dealing with an unforeseen cross-border flare-up.


We can just add this to the list of things worth watching closely.

Ubrest in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen not quelled by crackdowns

Protests continued in Lybia, Bahrain and Yemen on Friday, where government attempts to stop Egypt-style pro-democracy demonstrations with violence have thus far failed.

In Libya on Friday, thousands took to the streets in the city of Benghazi, the BBC reported.

Human Rights Watch said that 24 people were killed in clashes between protesters and Libyan security forces on Thursday.

Witnesses in Yemen's southern port city of Aden said angry protesters set fire to the municipal building and a third demonstrator has been killed as protests stretch into an eighth day.


Protests in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain

The mass protests sweeping the Arab world continued Friday with demonstrations in Yemen, Libya and Bahrain. In the latter two countries thousands took to the streets to mourn protesters killed in clashes with police earlier in the week.

Revolutions in Bahrain and Yemen could strike a serious blow to the international war on terrorism. Bahrain has been the Gulf state that most cooperates with the West, while Saleh has cooperated with the United States in the war on Al-Qaeda.


Three Terrorists Killed in Gaza

Three bomb-planting terrorists planning to ambush Israeli soldiers were killed overnight by combined IDF forces in Gaza.

Terrorists from Gaza have fired Kassam rockets at Israel on at least two occasions in recent days. A week ago, Israeli aircraft attacked a tunnel used to smuggle arms into northern Gaza. In two of the tree targets, explosions followed the Israeli attacks – indicating the presence of explosives and the like.

9 comments:

Expected Imminently said...

The Pre-Wrath Rapture View. It makes no sense and cannot be defended by anyone who knows the Bible and particularly knows well the Greek language.

My personal friend, Dr. Renald Showers, knew well these men as friends, the advocates of this position, Marvin Rosenthal and Robert Van Kampen. He worked with them in several ministries.

He watched as they tumbled into this view. He tried to show them the way of their error but it didn't work. They had an agenda they were trying to sell! Neither were true Bible scholars, but they just would not listen.

Shower's story is fascinating as he describes how they came about that view. Showers wrote the definitive answer to their error in his book "The Pre-Wrath Rapture View" (Kregel).

The Pre-Wrath view holds that the church will go through part of the tribulation. The Pre-Wrathers argue that it is wrong to use the word "tribulation" for the entire seven-year seventhieth week of Daniel 9.

However, they fail to notice Jeremiah 30:7 that makes clear the Hebrew word "tsarah" is used to describe the entire wrath period. In the English it is translated as "distress" but it could, and should, be translated as "tribulation."

Showers points this out, but as one who teaches graduate Hebrew, I noticed this fact before Showers wrote his book.

Note Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:6 "What restrains" the anti-Christ. This is a Present Active Participle, neuter, singular. But in verse 7 we have "He who now restrains ..." The masculine pronoun is used.

Question: What Force, Power, or Person in the Bible is described with a neuter noun but also with a masculine pronoun as "He"? Only the Holy Spirit.

The word Spirit is always neuter in Greek, even when describing the Spirit of God, but the masculine pronoun "He" is always used when speaking of Him.

Michael is masculine (not neuter) and the word "church" is feminine. (Michael is not mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2, nor is the church.

There is more involved in this error so I'm not going to spend time defending the right view—I just suggest you purchase Showers' book.

Taken from a short article by Mal Couch, Ph.D., Th.D. Clifton, Texas, United States

http://scofieldministries.blogspot.com/2011/01/pre-wrath-rapture-here-it-comes-again.html

DrNofog said...

EI said... "...but as one who teaches graduate Hebrew, I noticed this fact before Showers wrote his book."

__Nofog says: teaches graduate Hebrew?... I had no idea!

I shall donate my 'honourary Dr.' to you, Dr. EI
;D

Expected Imminently said...

DrNofog

You IMP!

ACTUALLY, I am not so much a Graduate of Hebrew more that I read it GRADUALLY one letter at a time. :o)

However the author of the above piece, Mal Crouch,IS a Graduate of Hebrew.

Sue :D
x

Expected Imminently said...

QUOTE!!!
The Pre-Wrath Confusion –selected headings.

CONFUSION #1: Rejection of the Imminent Return

"Where in all of the Church epistles are believers told to be looking for the tribulation? Where are we told to be looking for the Antichrist or the Abomination of Desolation? Repeatedly in the epistles believers are told to be looking expectantly for the Saviour who is OUR LIFE: "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:3-4). Indeed, God will keep us from (keep us out of) the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth (Rev. 3:10). "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!""

CONFUSION #2: Mixes Church History with Jewish History

CONFUSION #3: Misinterprets the Book of Revelation

CONFUSION #4: Tries to Distinguish Great Tribulation from The Day of the Lord

CONFUSION #5: Unbiblical Distinction between Seal, Trumpet, & Bowl Judgments

CONFUSION #6: Forced Exclusion of Bowl Judgments

CONFUSION #7: Misrepresentation of Revelation 3:10

CONFUSION #8: Why the Church is on the Earth

CONFUSION #9: Supposes that the Great Tribulation is Shortened

CONFUSION #10: Tries to Make a Distinction between the "Time of Jacob’s Trouble" and "The Day of the Lord"

CONFUSION #11: Cry for "Peace and Safety" During Troubled Times

CONFUSION #12: Misunderstanding of "Birth Pangs"

CONFUSION #13: Failure to Distinguish Cosmic Disturbances

CONFUSION #14: Does Not Allow for Church to be Received into Heaven

CONFUSION #15: Applies Matthew 24:31 to the Church

CONFUSION #16: Judgment of Nations Applied to the Church

CONFUSION #17: Michael the Archangel Called the "Restrainer"

CONFUSION #18: Why Should Satan Attack Israel?

CONFUSION #19: The Identity of Those Saved During the 70th Week

CONFUSION #20: Misinterpretation of 2 Peter 3:10-12

Does the Pre-Wrath view accurately present the facts of Scripture in a sane, safe and solid way? "Prove [test all things by the Word of God] all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess. 5:21).

May God be pleased to reveal His truth to His humble servants (Rev. 1:1), with the result being that we may live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking (expectantly and eagerly) for that blessed hope (that happy expectancy), even the glorious appearing of the GREAT GOD, even our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ (Titus 2:12-13). As our godly teachers have encouraged and exhorted us in the past, so we say again, "IT MAY BE TODAY!" "MARANATHA!" "EVEN SO, COME, LORD JESUS!"

UNQUOTE

The full critique may be read at the following link.

http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/proph/prewrath.htm

Scott said...

Sue - I have many comments, but you know Dr Showers???

OK, I'm officially impressed :) - seriously - he is one of my favorite authors and here is why:

He makes his case with irrefutable logic. I read his arguments and just marvel. His use of references, his logic. his detail etc allow him to make his case in such an ironclad way.

And both "Maranatha" and his book on the pre-wrath are two books I always keep nearby.

I also agree (needless to say) with your first set of comments .

And as DrNo states, "I had no idea" either -

Its always the self-effacing ones who are the smartest :)

Scott said...

Also -

The pre-wrath people NEVER answer the problem with "imminence". Never. Ever.

Plus, they miss Daniel 9:24, where Daniel is told

"Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for YOUR PEOPLE and YOUR HOLY CITY"..

Who were Daniel's "people"?

Of course, the Nation of Israel. No Church mentioned. This was a clear specific reference to the fact that the 490 years was exclusive to the Nation of Israel.

Why else would this point have been made?

And to bolster that idea, we weren't here for the first 483 years, why in the world would we spend 3-4 years in "their time"? It isn't logical.

I could go on and on...

Expected Imminently said...

Dear Scott

First and foremodt I totally agree with your respect for Reynald Shower's.

I am SO Embarrassed. I am guilty of not crediting the post clearly at the start of the article. I put an intro, then somehow deleted it when minimising the info.

I am quoting Mal Crouch in full, which includes "...My personal friend, Dr. Renald Showers, knew well these men as friends, the advocates of this position, Marvin Rosenthal and Robert Van Kampen. He worked with them in several ministries ..."

I did the acknowledment at the end and apologise profusely for the confusion.

Its a small comfort, but I shall post my own view on Imminency until folk can obtain their own copy of the easy to read scholarship of Reynald Shower's "Pre-Wrath Rapture View".

Pink all over :[
Sue

Expected Imminently said...

Imminency and Expectancy (by E.I.)

Rosenthall cannot permit imminency of the Rapture because that one fact destroy’s ALL his theories in one fell swoop.

Rosenthall foolishly wrote “The Bible does not teach the ‘imminency’ of Christ’s return. What it teaches is ‘expectancy’ – the concept that any generation since the first century could have been the one that would enter the 70th week and, while enduring antagonistic persecution, would have the expectancy of Christ’s coming to Rapture it out of the world …”

It was because of Rosenthall’s faulty understanding of basic grammar that I gave myself the pseudonym ‘Expected Imminently’ as a witness against his folly.

In his critique of the ‘Pre-Wrath Rapture View’, Reynald Shower’s explains that the word ‘imminent’ describes the nature of an EVENT and the word EXPECTED describes a person’s attitude toward that event.

The event:
The adjective ‘imminent’ means ‘overhanging or EXPECTED to happen’.

It’s like the sword of Damocles dangling perilously over his head, any second it could fall. Like an overhanging apple bough, its ripe apples ready to drop at any moment. While looking expectantly for this event, the cat may walk by, a bird may sing – so imminent doesn’t necessarily mean ‘soon’, it is impending, but unknown and other events MAY occur before the Rapture, but they don’t HAVE to; so imminecy remains intact.

The reaction:
The verb ‘expect’ means to believe with confidence, or to think likely, that an EVENT will happen in the future. As a transitive verb it’s to wait for, or look forward to something that is believed to be going to happen and arrive ‘sooner or later’.
1Thess5:6 (Paul said) Therefore let US not sleep, as others do, but let US watch and be sober.

While denying ‘imminency’ Rosenthall has embraced it simply by agreeing to ‘expectancy’.

We are instructed to watch for His coming. No-one watches for a guest to arrive in the morning when they aren’t due until the evening. Pre-Wrath does just that, puts off the need to watch until certain events have happened.

This isn’t expectancy, it is a DEFERRAL as in ‘hope deferred makes the heart sick’, and Pre-Wrath is as sick as can be, along with deferred mid and post Tribulation theories. They all postpone the Rapture; all concede expectant hope UNTIL…which is a contradiction in terms.

Proverbs13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.

Revelation 3:3 "Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and REPENT. Therefore if you will not WATCH, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

Sue

Scott said...

Luke 12:35-40 confirms the above IMO.