Israel: The Missing Piece in End Times Theology - DAN JUSTER/FOR REVIVE ISRAEL CHARISMA NEWS

The Book of Zechariah says than in an amazing time of repentance after the battle, Israel will "look upon Him whom they have pierced." (reviveisrael.org)

Israel: The Missing Piece in End Times Theology

11/18/2016 DAN JUSTER/FOR REVIVE ISRAEL  CHARISMA NEWS

Eschatology is the study of the last days and the age to come.

A consensus has developed in the doctrine of eschatology in the Christian world. Today, we could almost call these points truisms, though not all are aware of them.

Here is the general consensus: The last days began with the coming of Yeshua and continued to progress with his death, resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Shavuot). The kingdom of God has come, but its full manifestation will come with the second coming of Yeshua.

Cataclysm and Intervention

The "last of the last days" now refers to the events that will take place shortly before the Second Coming of Yeshua. This time will include a difficult trial for God's people as they are resisted by the powers of darkness. In Jewish thought, this time is called the birth pangs of the Messiah (Sanhedrin 98). Classical Jewish eschatology generally tracks with the church on the issue of a great trial at the end of this age. I call this view "Cataclysm and Intervention."

However, at the end, God's people will be delivered, and we will enter into the age to come. This broad consensus is even reflected in the Roman Catholic catechism, which states:

"Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the 'mystery of iniquity' in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.

"The church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and resurrection. The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil."

What About Israel?

Our teaching is very much in accord with this consensus, but we believe it is missing the end-times piece connected to Israel and the Jewish people. Concerning Israel, the Hebrew Scriptures constantly give reference to a final battle (Joel 3, Isaiah 25-27, Ezekiel 38, 39, and so many more) linked with the Jewish people in Israel. Let's examine just one.

Zechariah 12, 14 – Here, we read of the invasion of the nations and the battle for Jerusalem. This leads to an amazing time of repentance after the battle, and Israel looks upon Him whom they have pierced (12:10), which classically is looked at as Israel turning to Yeshua. At the end of this great battle, the nations all turn to God and worship Him annually in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).

Thankfully, we are seeing Israel and the Jewish people become a general consensus in the church's end-times theology in our day—just as they were a central focus for the Hebrew prophets as they spoke of the events of the end times. 

Dan Juster is an author and advocate of Messianic Judaism. He has served in the Messianic Jewish movement since 1972. He is the founder and director of Tikkun International, a network of congregations and ministries in the United States and abroad dedicated to the restoration of Israel and the church.

For the original article, visit reviveisrael.org.

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Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog: A chilling headline ripped from the pages of #TheThirdTarget & #TheFirstHostage: “How the Islamic State Seized A Chemical Weapons Stockpile.”

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

A chilling headline ripped from the pages of #TheThirdTarget & #TheFirstHostage: “How the Islamic State Seized A Chemical Weapons Stockpile.” by joelcrosenberg When I sit down to write a novel, I don't set out to predict the future. Rather, I set out to write about worst case scenarios that could come to pass if our leaders are blind-sided by evil they ignore or misunderstand. This was the case when I began writing my first novel, The Last Jihad, in January 2001. That was a novel that opened with a group of Radical Islamic terrorists hijacking a jet plane and flying a kamikaze mission into an American city, an attack that sets into motion a U.S. war against Saddam Hussein. That was also the case when in the fall of 2013 I began writing The Third Target, the first installment in my latest series of political thrillers. After doing months of research, meeting with two former CIA directors, a former head of Israel's Mossad, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Jordan, and numerous of military and intelligence experts, I set out to write a novel about a New York Times reporter named J.B. Collins who hears a rumor that ISIS has captured a cache of chemical weapons from a military base in northern Syria. As that novel, and the second in the series -- The First Hostage -- unfold, Collins and two colleagues slip into hellish, war-torn Syria to track down and interview an ISIS operative to confirm the story. Along the way, Collins and his team not only discover that the terror group has these horrific weapons but that the leaders of ISIS hold to an End Times theology that is driving them to wage genocide against Christians, Jews and any Muslim that doesn't follow their brand of Apocalyptic Islam to establish and expand their so-called Caliphate or Islamic kingdom. That was fiction when I wrote it -- but no longer. Unfortunately, this worst-case scenario appears to be coming to pass. As time passes, we are learning more and more about the eschatology of the ISIS leadership (as I explained more detail in my last column). We are also learning that ISIS does now have weapons of mass destruction. Consider excerpts this chilling report from the latest issue of Foreign Policy magazine: "How The Islamic State Seized A Chemical Weapons Stockpile." Abu Ahmed told us about how the Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant (ISIS) came to acquire some of the world’s most fearsome weapons, which were claimed as spoils of war from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces months before its creation. Roughly four months before the split between the Nusra Front and ISIS, in December 2012, dozens of Syrian jihadi fighters climbed a hill toward Regiment 111 — a large army base near the town of Darat Izza, in northern Syria. That town had been taken roughly five months earlier by a coalition of rebel groups. But while they had besieged Regiment 111 since the summer of 2012, they still had not succeeded in capturing the base from the troops loyal to President Assad.  The weather had turned bad in winter, however, making it more difficult for the Syrian Air Force to hold off the rebels with airstrikes. Moreover, the base was huge, sprawling over almost 500 acres, and difficult to protect from all approaches.  Syrian Army soldiers inside Regiment 111 successfully defended their base during the first rebel attack in early November 2012, killing 18 Nusra fighters in the process. But the cold December wind only fortified the rebels’ resolve. The base was a goldmine: home to guns, artillery, ammunition, and vehicles. And deep inside Regiment 111’s bunkers lay something even more valuable — a cache of chemical weapons.... Within a day, the combined jihadi forces had broken through the lines of the Syrian Army. Shortly after, Regiment 111 was fully under jihadi control. They found large stocks of weapons, ammunition and, to their surprise, chemical agents. They were, according to Abu Ahmad, mainly barrels filled with chlorine, sarin, and mustard gas. What followed was the distribution of the war spoils. Everybody took some ammunition and weapons. But only the Nusra Front seized the chemical weapons. Abu Ahmad watched as the al Qaeda affiliate called in 10 large cargo trucks, loaded 15 containers with chlorine and sarin gas, and drove them away to an unknown destination. He did not see what happened to the mustard gas. Three months later, both the Syrian government and rebel groups reported an attack in Khan al-Assal, near Aleppo. The international media said that 26 people had been killed, among them 16 regime soldiers and 10 civilians. Both the Syrian regime and opposition claimed that chemical weapons had been used — and both accused the other of having carried out one of the first chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian war..... To read the full article, please click here. To misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it. Let us pray our leaders wake up to the true magnitude of the threat posed by ISIS and stop taking half-measures. It's time to declare war on ISIS, take the gloves off, and do everything in our power -- in close cooperation with our allies, especially those in the region -- to end this scourge of evil once and for all. —————————– Order The First Hostage today — the new political thriller about genocidal ISIS leaders plotting a terrorist attacks against Israel, Jordan and the United States — available in hardcover, e-book and audio formats. ———————-—- Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email. Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks on the U.S. and our Mideast allies. Make an investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net), our non-profit organization to help Christians care for Syrian refugees, educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. Read our latest Donor Report, and prayerfully consider making a tax deductible, secure, on-line contribution. Thanks so much! Follow on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg joelcrosenberg | August 18, 2016 at 5:44 am | Categories: Epicenter | URL: http://wp.me/piWZ7-5rn

What's Next on God's Calendar? - LARRY TOMCZAK CHARISMA NEWS

A gunman flees after shooting a police officer in Pennsylvania. (Reuters/Police Handout)

What's Next on God's Calendar?

1/13/2016 LARRY TOMCZAK  CHARISMA NEWS

A gunman flees after shooting a police officer in Pennsylvania. (Reuters/Police Handout)

Last week, a man shot 13 times at a Philadelphia policeman in his car. The execution was foiled as the policeman miraculously survived, pursued him and the man was apprehended.

At a press conference later, the police commissioner stated unequivocally that the man confessed he acted in the name of Allah, was Islamic and was obeying the Koran.

The obviously rattled, politically correct mayor followed with a different story. He said this was not Islam and had nothing to do with Islamic terrorism.

Who's correct?

In situations like this, we go to the source. This murderer said he was a Muslim, his mother concurred, and he was unapologetic about his adherence to Islamic doctrine and practice.

When it comes to eschatology, the study of end times, we should also go to the source concerning what is on God's timetable. Jesus is that Source and, when He was queried by His followers about these days, He gave signposts to prepare them and us.

In reading the signs that Jesus laid out for us in the Gospels, many believe they're almost fulfilled. Therefore, the next logical event in the progression is His Second Coming!

Not so fast.

R.T. Kendall, one of the world's most respected Bible scholars and author of 60 books, told me recently what Jesus Himself said must precede His physical return to planet Earth. I am in total agreement with him, and that is why I am involved in an upcoming, historic event called "United Cry" to which every pastor in America is invited.

Here's the deal: After unfolding the signs of the end of the age prior to His return (Matt. 24), Jesus gave us an explicit parable dealing with preparation and falling asleep. He said at midnight will come a cry to awaken us before He as our Bridegroom comes back (Matt. 25:6).

The midnight cry and the return of our Lord aren't simultaneous. We need an awakening first, and that's what God intends for our desperately needy nation! Billy Graham says, "I've wept for America—she is in great need of a spiritual awakening." This spiritual giant, who is almost 100, says he prays fervently for this every day!

Today our freedoms, our faith, our families and our future are all at stake. We're engaged in a titanic, unprecedented struggle with forces of evil and must categorically reject wishful thinking that this is simply temporary, cyclical or manageable.

We are at a tipping point where either we experience the divine intervention of God in a Third Great Awakening or we will witness the fulfillment of A.W. Tozer's prophetic warning: "Historians will conclude that we of the 20th century had the genius to create a great civilization, but we lacked the moral wisdom to preserve it."

Previous Awakenings

Amid horrendous decline, God intervened with a First Great Awakening from 1720–1760. The Second Great Awakening came in answer to God's people praying and repenting in 1800-1840.

The time is now for another supernatural visitation! It's our only hope to experience the transformation of our crumbling culture before it's too late. It's the reason Franklin Graham is now traveling to every state in America to issue this call in his "Decision America" tour.

Our nation was established on Judeo-Christian foundations, no matter what some politicians and secular "authorities" state. We have a biblically based heritage and we must contend for its restoration.

John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts, alerted us: "We must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word to the world."

Daniel Webster, senator and secretary of state for three presidents, also warned: "If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering ... if we live in the fear of God, and respect His Commandments ... we may have the highest future fortunes of our country. ... But if we and our future generations reject religious instruction and authority; violate the rules of the eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell us how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."

Rewinding the Tape

In April 1789, the war for America's independence had been fought and won. A new nation formed around a radical constitution whose very ideas were born out of 35 years of revival preaching and the Great Awakening.

On that spring day in April, two things happened. President George Washington was sworn in at Federal Hall in New York City, becoming the first president of America. Secondly, he led the inaugural delegation to St. Paul's Chapel, which we know today as the site of "Ground Zero."

Visualize with your sanctified imagination what happened there that day. Picture the Founding Fathers, representatives, senators, and justices kneeling for two hours and dedicating America to God. Simultaneously, throughout the nation, pastors rang their church bells, calling the people of America to prayer in committing the new government to the Most High God.

In the formation of our nation, it was America's political leaders and pastors who unapologetically led the grass-roots fight for freedom and consecration of our new nation to God. They inspired people to stand for religious liberties and justice for all.

Years ago, when I wrote my autobiography, Clap Your Hands, I was assisted by David Manuel, who wrote The Light and the Glory, the historical account of America's spiritual founding. His account parallels where America is at today. As our developing nation prospered, complacency, compromise and disobedience set in. So pastors led the way in humble prayer and repentance in turning back to God.

As a result, as Manuel wrote in his aforementioned book, "so many people had sincerely and publicly repented of their sinful ways, so many lives were truly reformed, so many broken relationships were restored and so many churches solemnly renewed their covenants that God relented and poured out His mercy. There was a sense of freshness in the colonies, a sense of cleanness and new hope. The colonies were united in a common cause."

Set the Date: "United Cry," April 9, 2016, Lincoln Memorial

On April 10, my wife and I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. We are not sailing off to the Bahamas to soak in the sun. We're united in this "common cause" of joining 30,000 spiritual leaders in Washington, D.C., for this historic day of repentance and prayer appealing for awakening in America.

How desperately we need a "sense of cleanness and new hope" in America today.

It really is the next thing on God's calendar. We have it from a good Source, our Lord Jesus!

Will you join us?

Go to unitedcry.org for information on the event.

Larry Tomczak is a cultural commentator of 43 yrs, Liberty Counsel public policy adviser, Intercessors for America board member and best-selling author. His new, innovative video/book, BULLSEYE, develops informed influencers in 30 days (seewww.bullseyechallenge.com). Click (here) for his "Here's the Deal" weekly podcast.

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Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog: Why is ISIS trying feverishly to lure the U.S. into a ground war in Syria?

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

Why is ISIS trying feverishly to lure the U.S. into a ground war in Syria? The answer lies in ancient Islamic prophecies of a place called “Dabiq.” (My interview on Fox News) by joelcrosenberg (Washington, D.C.) -- In my latest novel series -- The Third Target and The First Hostage -- the leaders of the Islamic State launch a carefully-coordinated plot to blow up an Israeli-Palestinian peace summit, capture the President of the United States, and lure the U.S. and Western alliance into a ground war in Syria. While the books are fiction, they are based on actual ISIS strategy. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS, and his inner circle are, in fact, feverishly trying to draw the U.S. into a ground war in Syria. The question is: Why? The answer lies in an obscure town in northern Syria called "Dabiq." On Fox News yesterday, I explained why Dabiq is so important to the ISIS leadership. To watch the video, please click here. Also, here's the transcript. AUTHOR WARNS AGAINST "APOCALYPTIC ISLAM" FOX NEWS ANCHOR SHANNON BREAM: The fight against terror -- both home-grown and global -- is a top concern for those tuning into the President's final State of the Union address Tuesday. What is the President's strategy and how important are the exact words he uses when outlining the global terror threat? Joel Rosenberg is a best-selling author who has written extensively about the realities of the newest threat, which he calls "Apocalyptic Islam." His brand new book, The First Hostage, has just been released, and I am at the edge of my seat getting through it -- an excellent book. And you use fiction to communicate ideas that you think are important as a way of helping people learn about the threats and what's going on, but in an entertaining, fascinating way. JOEL C. ROSENBERG: Tom Clancy did it. Vince Flynn did it. It is a good way. A lot of people don't want to read a 900 page book on Islamic theology or history. But they understand that it's real and it's urgent, and this is a way to get into the story. BREAM: You and I have talked about the fact that al Qaeda and that threat, obviously, murderous around the globe, but this is -- you say -- ISIS to a new level. It's not simply radical. You're using the word apocalyptic, that they want to bring about the end of the world, essentially. ROSENBERG: That's right. The Islamic State's magazine is called, Dabiq. D-A-B-I-Q. Most people have no idea what that means. It's a little town in the north of Syria. Why is that important? Because they believe, based on ancient Islamic prophecies, that the Western world -- "the forces of Rome" -- will be drawn to that spot for the second-to-last battle of all history, and that the West will lose, and the Islamic State will win, and then they head to Jerusalem. The idea is that they believe that the End of Days has come, their messiah -- known as the "Mahdi" -- will come reign over the entire world at any moment. They're driven by an Islamic eschatology that's genocidal. And that's why it's so dangerous. And yet most leaders -- including the President and our two front-runners on the Democrat and Republican side -- they don't understand it. They don't talk about it. That's a problem. BREAM: Well, what you're saying -- what you're outlining, their whole purpose and mission -- it seems to be driven by theology, by their beliefs about the End Times. But as you mention, we have a lot of leaders who want to say, "This isn't a religious group. They are not Islamic. They've hijacked, or they're using, the religion simply as a vehicle for their violence, but it's not based on religion." But it sounds like the way that you're describing it, it's completely based on they're understanding of it. ROSENBERG: You can decide that you don't want to want it to be based on religion, but that's what they believe. Now, we're not talking about all 1.6 billion Muslims. You know, I've got characters in here [in my novels] who are Islamic leaders, Arab leaders -- they're Muslims, they're not evil. What's evil is to have an End Times theology, that you're trying to bring about the end of the world, and you believe you need to kill every Jew, Christian, and others you would call an "infidel," to get to your Islamic global kingdom. This is what's defining ISIS. This is what's actually defining Iran's leadership -- not the people, but the leaders. The difference is that ISIS wants to build the caliphate now, so they're killing, slaughtering now, whereas Iran wants to build the pathway to nuclear weapons so when they get ready to launch the caliphate war it will be genocidal by the millions, not just the tens or hundreds of thousands. BREAM: So how do you respond to those who say, "This sounds like crazy talk. It sounds cuckoo, all these theories and prophecies"? ROSENBERG: Well, it is. And you have to distinguish this. Jews have an eschatology. Jews -- I'm Jewish on my father's side -- we believe the Messiah is coming at one point. Christians -- I'm an Evangelical -- believe that Jesus is coming to set up a Kingdom. The difference is the genocidal nature [of Islamic eschatology], [they're determination] to annihilate all of Israel and the United States and all infidels. So it is a crazy eschatology, End Times theology, but to ignore it, to ignore what's actually animating both the Islamic State leaders and the Iranian leaders, is incredibly dangerous. Because one of the themes in my novels -- including The First Hostage -- is, "If you misunderstand the nature and threat of evil, you risk being blindsided by it." This [novel] is about ISIS trying to capture and behead the President of the United States, as they draw us into a ground war in Syria, based on their ancient Islamic prophecies. And you have to understand your enemy if you're going to defeat them. BREAM: Well, as with all your books, it's a great way to be entertained and informed at the same time. It is a wild ride. We wish you much success with it. Thanks for stopping in, Joel Rosenberg. Best wishes. ROSENBERG: It's good to be with you. ————– Order The First Hostage today — it’s now available in hardcover, e-book and audio formats. FACT SHEET: The Iranian leadership's Apocalyptic Beliefs FACT SHEET: The Islamic State's Apocalyptic Beliefs What the next US president will need to know about Iran and Islamic State.(my column in The Jerusalem Post) ——————- Subscribe (free) to the RSS feed (click here) and receive every new posting on this blog directly via email. Order THE THIRD TARGET today , the first in this new series — now out in paperback — the New York Times best-selling novel about ISIS capturing chemical weapons in Syria and plotting genocidal attacks. Make an investment in The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net), our non-profit organization to help Christians care for Syrian refugees, educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, care for the poor and needy in Israel (both Jews and Arabs) with food and other humanitarian relief, care for Holocaust survivors, and strengthen the Church in the epicenter. Read our latest Donor Report, and make a tax deductible, secure, on-line contribution before the end of the year. Follow on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg joelcrosenberg | January 11, 2016 at 1:23 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-3P6 Like