What is happening behind the scenes that is fulfilling Bible prophecy? There are some news stories that might get missed because they seem unimportant, but I assure you they are vitally important. Stay tuned!
Read while you listen!
Thank you for listening!
Kimberly Rogers-Brown
BeastWatchNews.com
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SUNNI ISLAM’S INTERNAL STRUGGLE
The Red Sea is once again becoming very important in the world, militarily and economically, just as it was at the time of the first Exodus from Egypt. Can the second Exodus be far behind? Right now, two Sunni Muslim nations are fighting for military and economic supremacy and control of the Red Sea. Shia Islam will ultimately gain control of it, but that will fit YHVH’s purpose. Hang in with me and I’ll explain what I mean a little later.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a Sunni Muslim who has just made a strategic military deal for an island in the Red Sea. The Red Sea will be disputed territory when the Shi’ite King of the North drives south through Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and then into North Africa. The Jordanian port of Aqaba supplies the entire Arab Middle East with products and goods. It is a port that all nations want to control.
Saudi Arabia is trying to control the Red Sea by building its newest city, NEOM, on its coast. And the Saudis made a deal with Egypt for the Tiran and Sanafir islands.
Saudi Arabia is a Sunni nation where both Mecca and Medina are located. These are two of the three holiest cities in Islam. Now, we come to Turkey which was the location of the Ottoman Empire and the last, or tenth, Sunni Caliphate. Sunni Saudi Arabia wants to control the Caliphate and Sunni Turkey wants to, as well. These two nations are now struggling with each other, vying for superior position in the Red Sea and North Africa. How did they get to this place and what will the outcome be? The Bible tells us what will happen to these two nations.
Let’s look at each nation’s religious ideology. It may seem unimportant for believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to understand the differences in Islamic sects and how those differences affect Middle Eastern politics and the coming wars, but it is these realities that play into YHVH’s hands and the prophecies. If you understand what to look for, you will know – or have a somewhat better idea – of what to expect next.
Saudi Arabia is a Sunni – Wahabi nation. For more than two centuries, Wahhabism has been Saudi Arabia’s dominant faith, it is a fundamentalist Sunni sect and is an austere form of Islam that insists on a literal interpretation of the Koran. Strict Wahhabis believe that all those who don’t practice their form of Islam are heathens and enemies. Thus, many of Saudi Arabia’s Arab allies could become enemies under the right circumstances and if there should ever be political expediency for the Saudis to use religion as a reason for leaning on any particular Arab nation.
Recently, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, found it necessary to move closer to the center of the religious spectrum. He announced, last October, that Saudi Arabia will become a “moderate” Islamic nation and asked for global support to transform the hardline kingdom into an open society that empowers citizens and lures investors. In other words, Prince Mohammed sees the writing on the wall and realizes that to be the Middle East’s super power the nation must lead by following. In other words, he knows that to get the Arab allies to fall in line with the Saudi agenda of world domination, Saudi Arabia needs to be more like the majority of Muslim nations which are more moderate and leaning toward democracy and at least some freedoms for their peoples.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey situation is different. Turkey is a solitary nation, a nation “out of place”, as it were. It does not belong to Europe, although it has tried to join the EU for half a century. Theoretically, Turkey is a NATO ally and a “strategic partner” of the US and EU. But, in reality, Turkey is hostile to Western civilization and the US is only a tactical partner, which means the US is a partner as long as it helps Islamists advance their political ambitions, but not a partner with shared democratic values.
Erdogan’s Turkey is a solitary nation also because it has been unsuccessful in its attempts to ally with Russia. Historic and present-day hostilities between Turkey and Russia are as deep as between the West and Soviet Russia during the Cold War.
Turkey does not belong to any particular Islamic bloc, either. The Shi’ite bloc hates Erdogan’s passionate Sunni-ism, but for most Sunni Arabs, Turks are not even Muslims simply because they are not Arabs (Turks are more closely related to Mongols and Chinese than Arabs or Persians). Ironically, Erdogan’s Turkish people, while more moderate than he, are still too Islamic to belong to Western culture and too secular to belong to the Islamic culture. Erdogan’s only claim to Islamic fame has been his political fights with Israel over the last few years. That’s given him son “street cred”, so to speak.
While some experts view Turkey’s “outsider” position in Islam as a weakness, it could turn out to be a strength since outsiders are often able to convince others that they have a new and better solution to their woes. This happens to be the case in this week’s news with the situation between Turkey and Sudan. Whether or not Turkey is an outsider among the Sunnis, the Turks still identify as Sunni.
So, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are each in unique positions to affect the future of the Middle East. We are now witnessing a necessary and prophetic internal struggle between two powers that both want to establish and rule over a Sunni Caliphate. Saudi Arabia would have the next Caliphate to be more along the extremist lines (even though recently they proclaimed themselves to be moving in a more moderate direction), and Turkey wants to rule the Caliphate along the more majority-accepted and moderate Sunni theology. Saudi Arabia would set up the Caliphate in Mecca, while Turkey would have it in Istanbul where it once was during the late Ottoman empire.
The struggle between these two Sunni factions is now playing out on the Red Sea, the site of the first Exodus and the necessary stronghold of any nation that wants to control the entire Middle East during YHVH’s second, or “greater”, Exodus. The Red Sea is so strategic militarily and economically that I can hardly press this point enough.
In this ruthless fight for hegemony – supreme rulership – in the Middle East, Turkey has now deployed troops in Qatar to support that nation in the conflict between the Gulf states and Egypt. This battle is preventing the regional Arab Sunni states from uniting against Iran as President Donald Trump had hoped would happen after his visit to Riyadh last April.
The disagreements between the various Sunni Arab nations has weakened Saudi Arabia’s power over the Sunni nations in the Middle East allowing Turkey to step in for a power play. And, to frustrate the Saudis further, during the last week of December, Erdogan announced that Turkey intends to set up a military outpost in Sudan’s island of Suakin in the Red Sea.
The island is adjacent to the Port of Sudan opposite the coast of Saudi Arabia where it will challenge Saudi Arabia’s rulership over the Sunni States. The Sudanese president confirmed that a memorandum had been signed by both countries to formalize the deal. Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour added that military and security cooperation agreements also were signed during Erdogan’s visit for the construction of facilities to maintain civil and military vessels in the harbor.
Turkey already has a military base in Somalia, but this new Red Sea base is intended to be the first of a ring of military cooperation agreements with other Sunni nations along the coasts of the Red Sea in East Africa.
Turkey’s encroachment into the area vital to Egypt’s security is an unwelcome development. The rift between Cairo and Ankara goes back to the ouster of president Muhammad Morsi in 2013, after which diplomatic relations between Egypt and Turkey were severed. Turkey has since developed closer ties with Qatar, which also supports the Muslim Brotherhood, and puts both countries on the outs with Saudi Arabia because of last year’s dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis are threatened by Turkey’s incursion into Sudan territory. According to Al-Jazeera, The Saudi newspaper al-Okaz ran a headline that read: “Khartoum hands over Suakin to Ankara … Sudan in Turkish hands.” “Turkey’s greed on the African continent seems to have no limits”, the article said.
The Al-Jazeera article further says, “The Sudanese embassy in Saudi Arabia responded by saying that “Suakin belongs to Sudan, no one else”, and promised that the deal with Ankara would not harm the security of Arab countries. The ripples, however, were immediately felt across the African continent.
In response, Egypt sent hundreds of its troops to a UAE base in Eritrea, on the border with Sudan. Khartoum responded by recalling its ambassador to Cairo, hours after the head of the Sudanese Border Technical Committee, Abdullah al-Sadiq, accused Egypt of trying to “drag Sudan into a direct [military] confrontation”. Days later, Sudan shut its border with Eritrea and deployed thousands of troops there.
The deployment of Egyptian troops to Eritrea has sent longtime foe Ethiopia into a frenzy. Aware of the poor relations between Egypt and Ethiopia over Nile water use, Eritrea eagerly welcomed the Egyptian troops.
Ethiopia, which has the third-largest army on the continent, responded by sending more troops to the border with its regional rival, Eritrea. Asmara and Addis Ababa have had two bloody wars over border disputes.
Ethiopia is also uneasy that the United Arab Emirates, which has cozy relations with Cairo, has been stepping up its presence in the region. It recently acquired military and naval bases in countries that have borders with Ethiopia, Somalia to the east and Eritrea to the north, as well as Yemen. This has led Ethiopia to steam ahead with construction of the dam, saying that more than 60 percent has already been completed.
“Construction has never stopped and will never stop until the project is completed. We are not concerned with what Egypt thinks. Ethiopia is committed to benefit from its water resources without causing harm to anyone,” Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia’s minister for irrigation, water and electricity, said in November.
As Egypt, Turkey and the UAE make efforts to expand their influence and secure allies in the region, it is unclear whether relations between African states will continue to sour. Further twists and turns could be ahead as African heads of state prepare to meet in Addis Ababa later this month for the African Union summit.
The recent Qatar diplomatic crisis began in June 2017 when Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt, abruptly cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar over Qatar’s alleged support for terrorism and Qatar’s relations with Iran.
A geography lesson is needed at this point. Sudan is located in North Africa between Egypt and Ethiopia and is the ancient Biblical Cush. It became part of the Turkish Ottoman empire and remained part of it until the fall of the empire when it came under British control. Sudan declared independence from British rule in 1956.
The countries of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia lie along a north-south axis. Egypt is the northernmost of the three, then Sudan and south of Sudan lies Ethiopia. This is important for understanding some complexities of the King of the North invasion. The Shi’ite coalition will invade Egypt and Ethiopia. The problem is that Sudan is between Egypt and Ethiopia. This means that the Shi’ites will also overrun Sudan. There is no way to avoid it. And, in just a little bit, I will tell you what the prophecy is about Turkey in this invasion so you will understand why Turkey’s latest alliance with Sudan and its acquisition of Sudan’s island are important in the fulfillment of the King of the North’s war.
There are additional diplomatic problems in North Africa that could affect the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Not only are Turkey and Egypt in diplomatic difficulties, but Egypt is also in a long running dispute with Sudan, Turkey’s latest ally, regarding usage of the Nile’s waters between Egypt and the other African countries along the river’s basin. Ninety percent of Egypt’s water supply comes from the Nile. Sudan, on the other hand, enjoys bountiful rains and so does not need as much water as Egypt. Sudan, though, has made itself an intermediary for the other North African countries which complain that present quotas from the Nile are insufficient. The quotas were set during the British colonial era. They heavily favor Egypt with 80% of the Nile’s water.
Cairo adamantly refuses to reduce its quota and also opposes the building of a huge hydroelectric dam along the Nile in Ethiopia. Sudan is in the middle of this water conflict which could deteriorate into a full-blown war.
Another issue between Egypt and Sudan is that of the ownership of some border regions of both countries which today are still under Egyptian rule.
Now, Sudan is contesting the recent agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia about the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia on the grounds that the coordinates of the Egyptian maritime border fixed in that agreement wrongfully place those two regions inside Egyptian territory.
Now comes Turkey to intervene. It could well be that the new Sudanese and Qatari front along the Red Sea, under the leadership of Turkey, is the key factor behind Egypt’s massive buildup of its navy and air force. Cairo has purchased two helicopter carriers and one frigate from France, three submarines from Germany and dozens of warplanes from France and Russia.
Iran and Turkey, the two great non-Arab Muslim countries, are apparently taking advantage of regional chaos to develop their own, but different, zones of influence. Russia, rushing into the void left by America’s apparent abandonment of the Middle East, is supporting these two countries and entrenching itself in Syria. Turkey is making alliances where it can, while Iran’s only choice to control the region around the Red Sea will be war.
Turkey is making its own way in the world since being deprived of American and European support. The moderate Sunni countries are floundering and cannot stop Turkey or Iran. The new Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman made an all-out effort to draw the West’s attention to what is going on in the region and especially in Lebanon. The short-lived demission of Prime Minister Saad Hariri was a last-ditch effort to focus public opinion on the growing influence of Iran in Lebanon and the Hezbollah takeover of that country. That was a coup that failed.
In aligning itself with Qatar, Turkey is effectively blocking the formation of an anti-Iranian front in the Gulf and setting itself up to take over and recreate the Ottoman Caliphate. Turkey’s military cooperation agreements along the Red Sea with Somalia and Sudan are a direct threat not only to Egypt but also to Israel, whose vessels and planes transit through that sea on their way to Asia and Africa.
This is a dangerous situation adding to the already volatile mix of the Middle East. Syria, Iraq and Yemen are in ruins but apparently it is not enough to stop regional powers in their ruthless fight for hegemony.
Now, how does Turkey’s Sudan move play out in scripture?
Daniel 11:40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north 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.
Daniel 11:41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
Daniel 11:42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
Dan 11:43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
Dan 11:44 But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.
Verse 44 is the verse that contains Iran’s little Turkish complication that will arise after invading Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia. You see, Turkey is north of the 4+1 coalition and to the east of Saudi Arabia is Turkey’s ally, Qatar. Both Turkey and Qatar are Sunni nations with good relations to each other that will not have been invaded by the 4+1 coalition yet. The Shi’ite King of the North will still have to deal with Sunni nations that did not fall to the 4+1 Coalition in the initial attack.
With Saudi Arabia gone, Turkey will be free to rise up against the 4+1 coalition after its invasion. Just as the King of the North – the 4+1 Coalition led by Iran and backed by Russia – is getting settled in and making plans for global take over, Turkey, from the northward region, and Qatar, from the eastward region, will make their move to establish a Sunni Islamic Caliphate in Istanbul, ancient Constantinople. Fierce fighting will ensue between Iran’s 4+1 Coalition and Turkey with whatever allies remain after Iran gets done invading Sudan on its way to Ethiopia.
Verse 44 says this causes the King of the North’s 4+1 Coalition to go forth with great fury to destroy and seclude many.
The King James version says, “utterly to make away many”. The word in the Hebrew interlinear is ‘v’lacharam. The root word is ‘charam’ which means to seclude.
So the King of the North will destroy many and will seclude many. What does this seclusion mean? The King of the North will begin to fulfill Ezekiel 20 which says:
Ezekiel 20:33 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
Ezekiel 20:34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
The fury in Ezekiel 20:34 is the same word as the fury poured out by the King of the North. In other words, the Shi’ite Islamic King of the North will become YHVH’s instrument to gather all Israel’s people – Christians and Jews alike – from the four corners of the earth.
Where will the King of the North put them? In his own territory, of course. Where is his territory? In the Middle East. More specifically, he will put them in the places listed in the Bible: Southern Jordan and Bozrah, Gilead, Carmel, Mount Ephraim, Bashan, and even Lebanon. These are all according to scripture.
Remember that these are all places that will have been conquered and are now territory of the King of the North. YHVH’s people will be gathered in what the Bible calls ‘sheepfolds’. In modern terminology, they will be called concentration camps.
I believe the strategy of the Iranians will be to remove everyone who is not an Islamic believer from every nation of the earth.
In the parable of the wheat and tares, Yeshua says it will be the reapers who separate them in the end of days. Is it possible that the final Caliphate, the one and only Shi’ite Caliphate to ever reign on the earth, will be the reaper of YHVH’s people? I believe that the ancient Persians are exactly who will do the reaping.
Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
The reapers will separate themselves out, and will take over the nations outside the Middle East, because they are the tares among the wheat. YHVH has to get the wheat out of the way before He destroys the enemy. So, the King of the North will do what Yeshua said and gather the tares together, and they will be gathered together globally. They won’t understand that they are gathering together in the nations of the world to be burned by YHVH. They won’t understand that they are gathering the children of Jacob to the Middle East to be saved by YHVH.
But gather, they will. They will gather the wheat into YHVH’s “barns” in the Middle East. The “barns” of Matthew 13:30 and the sheepfold of Bozrah are synonyms.
Micah 2:12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
The barns and the sheepfolds are two different words for the same places. And there will be a lot of us. So many that the “barns” or “sheepfolds” will be quite noisy.
The “barns” and “sheepfolds” of YHVH will be in the region of the Red Sea that will be controlled by Shia Islam’s Persian King of the North. YHVH’s people will have a symbolic Red Sea experience before crossing over the Jordan river to accompany Yeshua, the Messiah, on His way to Jerusalem.
The reaping phase of prophecy has already begun. It is a simultaneous process with the ingathering. At first, dispersion out of the Middle East must begin while, at the same time, increased interest by YHVH’s people in returning to the Land will also begin. We have already seen this process start.
The Middle East wars begun by Obama have facilitated the dispersion of Arabs and Persians from their own nations into the Western nations – Europe and America – and into the Indian and Asian continents. Interest has risen among YHVH’s people all over the planet in returning to Abraham’s inheritance. So, the ‘red’ people – Edomites – are being dispersed while the ‘blue’ people – Jacob-ites – are being gathered.
The processes have begun! Here is more proof of the ingathering just at a time when the Middle East dispersion is also happening. Tourism to Israel is at an all-time high.
According to Israel’s Government Press Office, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin stated this past week that “the all-time record number of tourists visiting Israel this year is no accident; it is the result of a clear policy. The actions taken by my ministry since I took up my position have brought Israel an unprecedented record in incoming tourism. The number of tourists visiting Israel increased by 700,000, setting a new record for incoming tourism to Israel and adding NIS 20 billion to the economy.”
For those interested in Gematria, the Jewish study of the significance of numbers, 700,000 is a significant number. I don’t know if Minister Levin is aware of its significance, but let me tell you what the significance is. It has to do with the 70 nations. The extra zeros point to the high population of Jacob-ites – House of Judah, House of Israel and their companions, as it states in Ezekiel 37. This end time population has a renewed interest in Israel, in coming home just at the time that the Edomites are being dispersed out of the Middle east.
I have attended every Feast since Sukkot 2015 – that’s Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. I’ve been seven to Feasts in Israel since Sukkot 2015. It seems to me that each Feast has more people than the one before it. The head counts for attendance at the Western Wall goes up each year, so it is not my imagination. People are coming back to the land. They are “asking the way” to Zion.
Jer 50:4 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
Jer 50:5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
Both Houses will come, says YHVH. And it will happen “in those days” which is an idiomatic phrase for the end times.
Asking “the way to Zion’ doesn’t mean that people don’t know where Zion is. This, too, is idiomatic for wanting to go to Zion but not knowing how they’re going get there. But, they set their faces toward Zion and they get there! They get there by asking ‘how much does it cost’, ‘what do I need before I come’, ‘how long can I stay’ and many other questions relating to “getting there”.
They come to the Land of their inheritance, some like the ten spies and some just coming regardless of what they find. It is the latter who will join themselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten. Those that come like the ten spies are the ones who go home making discouraging statements about the changes such a move will make in their life. Some get discouraged because they know they cannot make Aliyah to Israel and they wrongfully think that is the only way to make Aliyah to YHVH’s Land.
Aliyah simply means to return. We can return to Abraham’s greater inheritance. We don’t have to live within the boundaries of political Israel. We can determine to live within Abraham’s boundaries. The best place to be outside Israel in other safe places of the Middle East.
But the discouragers, those with the ‘ten spies’ attitude, are not willing to give up Babylon even though the ingathering is happening right under their noses.
With interest in Israel on the rise, it is important to focus our travels on the Feast times. If you can’t get there, pool your congregation’s money to send a representative. And while you are staying at home for the Feasts, determine that it will be a time of mourning, not celebrating.
Psa 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Psa 137:2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
Psa 137:3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
Psa 137:4 How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?
Psa 137:5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
Psa 137:6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
Psa 137:7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
Psa 137:8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
Psa 137:9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
It is impossible to experience joy and to worship God outside Jerusalem. I know, I know. You say, “We do it all the time”.
There are four levels of understanding in the scripture, according to the Rabbis. Peshat, ramez, drash and sod. However, there is a level of understanding that exceeds these four. It is experience. Just as I cannot describe the taste of chocolate to you, I can’t describe the difference in joy and worship outside Jerusalem from that worship inside Jerusalem. You have to taste the chocolate for yourself. You have to experience the joy of worship in Jerusalem for yourself before you will understand.
Zep 3:18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the MOED, the solemn assembly as it says in the King James, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.
YHVH will gather those who mourn over the Feasts. So when you send a representative for your congregation, mourn for not being able to do the Feasts in Jerusalem yourself.
Matthew 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
We were taught that our mourning was just any kind of sadness that comes upon us. That is not true. This is a particular kind of mourning. In the context of the day, the Temple had been taken over by the wrong Priesthood who bought the High Priest’s office from the Romans. The righteous people of the that day mourned over the loss of their rightful Priesthood. And they would soon be mourning over the loss of the Temple.
If they were mourning and being comforted then, how much more now? We don’t even have a Temple. But we do have YHVH’s promise that His name is in Jerusalem forever (2Ki_21:7) and that His eyes and heart (1Ki_9:3) are always there. Thus, when we go there, He sees us and feels us and knows that we are there to do the utmost that is possible to show Him that we have returned to keeping the Torah with all our hearts!
People are returning to Israel in ever-increasing numbers, but from where? A new route opened from Shanghai which caused a 46% increase in tourism from China last year. The leading source countries for incoming tourism to Israel are the USA, Russia, France, Germany and UK.
The breakdown of incoming tourism by religion is 54% Christian (25% visited as pilgrims), 21.7% Jewish and the rest are other religions.
The pilgrimages – that 25% number – those are people coming for the Feasts. 41% of tourists had already visited Israel meaning they are returning, likely some or a lot of them are returning for the Feasts.
The Feasts are so important to end time Bible prophecy because it is primarily at the Feasts that the two Houses of Judah and Israel are getting to know each other. It is these Feasts that are making the way to have friendships between the Jews and us, and attending the Feasts is making it possible for all of us to decide walking with each in mutual respect again, rather than missionizing and trying to convert each other, I the best way to walk.
You and I live in the time when the ingathering will happen. This process will occur in unexpected ways. One way that it will NOT happen is via a rapture. It will happen by YHVH orchestrating it through wars, tourism and other means. Be a part of it. You have only this one life in which to return home at the time when returning home is already happening. Don’t miss out!
The number of incoming tourists in 2018 is expected to increase another 25% to about 3.6 million visitors. This is a significant number in terms of the ingathering that is in process.
In the period from January to November 2017, about 3.3 million tourist entries were recorded, an increase of 25.3% on the same period in 2016 (2.6 million) and 28% more than in 2015. Of the 3.3 million, over 2.9 million tourist entries were by air, an increase of 22% on 2016. 373,000 tourists arrived via the land crossings, 50% increase on 2016.
Do you see the trend? The House of Israel is coming home. Why? Because it is time. How? Because the Ruach is calling them and YHVH is making the way for us.
The minister added: “The revolution in tourism has contributed enormously to the Israeli economy in 2017. For the first time, revenue from incoming tourism has crossed the NIS 20 billion threshold, creating about 25,000 new jobs. This amazing momentum in incoming tourism also provides a response to the BDS movement and to all those claims that seek to isolate Israel.
Us returning to the Land is also beginning to fulfill Zechariah 9:13.
Zechariah 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
Zechariah 9:12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
Zechariah 9:13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
We are putting a stop to the BDS movement. We, Ephraimites, have become an arrow in Judah’s bow!
Israel is making it easier for us to get to Zion. The Tourism Ministry worked to ease regulations affecting the tourism industry. In cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and the Immigration Authority, the Ministry of Tourism canceled the fees imposed on tourist groups, changed the definition of a group to five people, shortened the waiting period for visas and extended to ten years the validity of visas for Chinese visitors.
China has a heavy, pro-Israel population. We see Chinese people a lot and have made friends among the Chinese.
The minister thanked his staff and the ministry employees headed by Director-General Amir Halevi and concluded that the Ministry of Tourism is preparing to expand its marketing activities, to continue working to ease entry visas into Israel, to expand the supply of flights from distant destinations and to allocate budgets for a plan to increase the hotel room supply in order to lower prices and generate additional demand. The Minister added that the Ministry of Tourism intends to complete the amendment to the Tourism Services Law, which was submitted last month and which seeks to adapt the old law to reflect the changes that have taken place in the tourist industry since it was legislated 30 years ago.
As regards tourism infrastructure, Minister Levin presented the government with the dramatic increase in the number of requests received from entrepreneurs for approval of grants from the Investment Center at the Ministry of Tourism to build new hotel rooms. In 2015, requests for 1,332 rooms were submitted, in 2016 this jumped to 1,936 rooms, and in 2017 requests for 2,538 rooms were submitted. The minister also referred to the commencement of planning for the cable car in Jerusalem, as well as the popular pleasure cruise line that has opened between Haifa and Acre.
One way people are getting to Zion is by moving to Israel and starting businesses in industries where Israel is short of expert help. Keep asking YHVH for the way that HE wants you to get to Zion! And when you come, get here for the Feasts!
The internal struggles of the Sunnis and the increase in interest in Israel by tourists are two necessary, behind-the-scenes prophetic developments that much occur in the end of days. And while these two developments – the Sunni struggle between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Israeli tourism – seem disconnected, they are not. They are the same event. One will continue to disperse Edomites out of the Middle East, the other will continue to bring home Jacob’s descendants. In other words, it is all about the migration that prophetically must happen!
Each detail of end times prophecy is in process of being fulfilled. There may be other skirmishes before the King of the North attacks, but those will only be distractions. Egypt and Sudan might fight over the water and border regions. They may fight over ownership of islands. Turkey may get involved if the battles get too hot. Don’t let these little battles distract you from watching the activities of the 4+1 Coalition, the King of the North.
JERUSALEM EMBASSY
Two more developments that are affecting the Edomite dispersion and the Jacob-ite ingathering is the issue of the Jerusalem embassy and the continued war in Syria. First, a quick look at the Jerusalem embassy.
Following an announcement Sunday by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales that his country has begun work to relocate its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the capital of Jerusalem, two more Latin American countries are poised to announce similar plans. The governments of Panama and Honduras both notified the PA leadership of their intentions to move their embassies to the Israeli capital. The Czechoslovakia President, Milos Zeman, suggested his country might also relocate its embassy to Jerusalem.
An Egyptian intelligence officer has been urging influential talk show hosts to accept US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to convince their viewers to, as well.
“How is Jerusalem different from Ramallah, really?” he asked repeatedly in four audio recordings of his telephone calls obtained by Times.
“Like all our Arab brothers,” Egypt would denounce the decision in public, Kholi told the hosts in quietly placed phone calls, the Times said.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Arab states will push for international recognition of east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, the Associated Press reported. Thus, the dividing of Jerusalem continues.
Safadi spoke after hosting five Arab foreign ministers and the head of the Arab League in order to decide on a joint Arab response to Trump.
The Arab world would pursue a “global political decision to recognize the Palestinian state … with east Jerusalem as its capital,” he stated.
I have said that it is highly possible East Jerusalem will see embassies just as West Jerusalem is. At first, I thought the U.S. might put an embassy in East Jerusalem to pacify the Palestinians into coming to the peace table. Then, Iran declared East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine. And now, an Egyptian officer is calling for setting up an embassy in Ramallah. While Ramallah is not East Jerusalem, it’s not that far. And if Egypt would accept an embassy in Ramallah, they might be convinced to just go ahead and move their embassy to East Jerusalem.
As for Jordan, it is not surprising for them to call for an embassy to be put in East Jerusalem.
ISRAEL STRIKES DAMASCUS
The Syrian military said that Israel conducted airstrikes on a military base in the city of al-Qutayfah, outside Damascus, early Tuesday morning, reportedly on a weapons depot containing long-range missiles. The Israeli military did not comment on the reports. Syrian military officials told al-Mayadeen that its air defenses intercepted three of the missiles fired and hit one of the Israeli aircraft. The target of the strike in al-Qutayfah was said to be a base used by the Syrian military’s 155th Artillery Regiment. Syrian opposition media reported that the base was used to store weapons, specifically long-range missiles. The claim could not be immediately confirmed.
The alleged airstrike came as senior Israeli ministers and defense officials have reportedly been holding high-level talks about the situation in Syria and Lebanon, specifically regarding Iranian entrenchment in the region.
“The Middle East is raging around us, and what concerns us the most are Iranian efforts to establish military bases in Syria,” Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Army Radio Monday after being asked about reports that the high-level security cabinet has been holding a series of “extremely significant” meetings on the threats from the northern border.
“The prime minister is leading a multifaceted campaign to stop this entrenchment,” Steinitz said, declining to comment specifically on the content of the meetings.
Last month, Israel allegedly fired missiles at a suspected Iranian base in Syria, reportedly killing 12 Iranian military personnel and destroying several buildings. A satellite image showing the results of an alleged Israeli airstrike on a reported Iranian base being set up outside Damascus, from December 4, 2017.
Last week, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said the most serious immediate threat to Israel was posed by Hezbollah, followed by other jihadist groups supported by Tehran positioned on the Syrian border.
Describing Iran as a “multidimensional threat,” the army chief said the most worrying aspect is the Islamic Republic’s desire to obtain nuclear capabilities, followed by its efforts to achieve hegemony in the region.
He noted the over $1 billion that the country invests in its proxies in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and — increasingly — Palestinian terrorist groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
According to Eisenkot, each year Iran sends between $700 million and $1 billion to Hezbollah, $100 million each to Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq, rebels in Yemen and to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorist groups.
IRAN OPERATING IN ISRAEL
Israeli security forces have uncovered a significant Iranian attempt to infiltrate the West Bank and use it as a base for launching terrorist attacks and hostile intelligence gathering operations against Israel. A radical Shi’ite axis, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, led by Iran, …is involved in this latest plot [which] shows direct involvement of Iranian intelligence agents in orchestrating a Palestinian terrorist cell in Hebron.
Iran has, over the past months, transferred $100 million to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Shin Bet announced last week that it had uncovered and foiled a West Bank terrorist infrastructure “that was run by an Iranian intelligence operative living in South Africa.”
“The principal operative that was arrested is Mahmoud Makharmeh, 29, a computer engineering student, who resides in Hebron. He was recruited for Iranian intelligence activity by a relative of his, Bakhar Makharmeh, who is from Hebron, but who has been living in South Africa in recent years,” the Shin Bet stated.
“Iranian intelligence has been using South Africa as a significant center for locating, recruiting and activating agents against Israel in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank],” it added.
Following his arrest, the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Military Court charged Mahmoud Makharmeh with several severe security crimes. The charge sheet alleges that he worked to recruit suicide bombers and a shooting terrorist cell. It also details his involvement in a training course for the use of explosives and other weapons, and the opening of a computer store in Hebron which was supposed to double as an Iranian intelligence gathering post.
Mahmoud Makharmeh allegedly recruited an Israeli Arab man to take photographs in Israel. He also sent Israeli SIM cards and cash to the Iranians – items that were apparently necessary for the next stage of Iran’s operations. The Israeli charge sheet details how Mahmoud Makharmeh recruited two Palestinians in Hebron, both aged 22, who agreed to join the Iranian-run terrorist cell.
“Mahmoud received $8,000 from the Iranians to operate the cell,” the Shin Bet said.
The Iranians instructed him to also recruit residents of Israel, including journalists, because they have access to official sites.
Let the wars begin!