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-For today’s update, I’m going to sort of hone in on the Middle East as it relates to this ongoing and even intoxicating quest for an allusive peace. -By that I mean, the very fact the entire world is focused on peace in the Middle East, actually fulfills specific prophecies recorded in the Bible. -Replete throughout the pages of scripture we can find detailed descriptions of what the world will look like right before the rapture of the church.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 NIV (3) While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

-In addition to seeking and saying peace and security increasing in intensity the Bible also talks of an increasing hatred for Jews and Christians. -While we devoted last weeks prophecy update to the Satanic attack against both Israel and the Church there is another component to all of this. -Namely, the “why” behind the “what,” as I like to call it, related to the increased persecution of Christians and the attempted annihilation of Jews.

-Whether we like it or not both Israel and the church are in the way of world peace, which is why there’s a movement afoot to do away with both. -This world peace quest is under the banner of a New World Order, which in turn will be under the control of the Man of Perdition aka, antichrist. -If the truth be known, once we are raptured and taken away, we will be out of the way however, Israel will still be in the way for a total of 7 years.

-It’s for this reason, that I believe we are now on the cusp of what is arguably a Biblical timeline based on the closeness of the 7-year tribulation. -The point being that if the 7-year tribulation is that close, and it is, and the rapture must happen first, and it does, then we must be really close. -Here’s how I get there, prophecies describing what the 7-year tribulation is like are even now beginning to come to pass with 100% accuracy.

-Chief amongst those prophecies is the likening of the Lords return to a pregnant woman’s labor pains increasing in both frequency and intensity. -In other words, Jesus coming is like the baby coming, and the signs of His coming will be like the increased labor pains just prior to His coming. -Please know that the Lord doesn’t want us to be ignorant concerning His return, which is why He gave us specific signs that we could look for.

Matthew 24:3-8 NIV As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" (4) Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. (5) For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. (6) You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. (7) Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (8) All these are the beginning of birth pains.

-Back about 15 years ago my wife and I were in Egypt staying with my aunt. On one of the days, we decided travel from Cairo to Alexandria. -We missed our train and ended up having to take a cab, which I would never recommend anyone do, especially now, as you might imagine. -I’ll spare you the details of this intense cab ride, but suffice it to say, the closer we got to Alexandria, the more frequently the road signs came.

-By now you can probably figure out where I’m going with all this, so I’ll just get right to the point. Here it is; the signs are coming more frequently. -The closer we get to the rapture, the shorter the frequency and the greater the intensity of those signs, like birth pains will be. Consider this: -Syria is now on the verge of fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 17 and the alliance of Muslim nations is now ready to fulfill Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38.

-Earthquakes are now increasing in frequency and intensity so rapidly, that a magnitude 6.0 or greater hardly even makes the news anymore. -If you look for alternative news sources you will find out about not only the earthquakes, but the economic earthquake that can happen anytime. -As if these weren’t enough signs, as I mentioned prior, Christian’s and Jews, as Israel and the Church, are coming under intense satanic attack.

-By the way, it’s not always been this way. It’s only been in the last ten years that we’ve seen the swiftness with which everything is happening. -Be that as it may, this has created a problem within the body of Christ as a whole. It’s subtly crept into many a church in the United States today. -What I’m speaking of is this unwillingness to acknowledge that these are the last days. There’s this prevailing attitude that it’s always been so.

2 Peter 3:3-4 NIV First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. (4) They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."

A couple of weeks ago, my wife was going through some old photos and happened upon a couple of newspaper articles dating back to the 1960’s, when my parents first came to the United States. The one titled; “Egyptian Family Comes To Everett as Refugees,” says; “Farag left Egypt in 1956, four years after the regime associated with Nasser came to power, and two years following the end of British occupation of Egypt. Soon after he left, he said persecution of various Christian groups began. Thousands of Protestant and Catholic Christians, as well as Jews, lost their jobs, their property and their civil rights.”

Another newspaper did a story on them titled; “Political Immigrants Find Much To Admire In U.S.” Here is an excerpt from this article; “Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Farag see any solution to the conflicts that plague the Middle East. Mohammedans and Jews, they believe, will never live in peace together. ‘In Jordan,’ said Farag, ‘we worshipped in churches with drawn curtains. It was forbidden to sing. I was taken to jail many times. My brother was tortured.’ ‘We lived on our nerves for 3 ½ years,’ said Mrs. Farag. ‘The first night we slept in this country it was heaven. There was no one who would come in to kill us, no one looking for evidence against us – to accuse us falsely.’ ‘I think that Americans do not know how it is in other countries. They take America for granted. My husband and I, with all our hearts, appreciate America.’”

-I share that to say this, not only are we prone to take living in America for granted, so too are we prone to take living in the last days for granted. -Dare I say, we may have it too good, and in so doing, we’ve developed this complacency and this apathy about the times in which we now live? -At the risk of waxing poetic, we have so many Bibles that their worth is diminished and we have so many churches that their value is diminished.

-I wonder if the best thing for the church would be to persecute the church. Now I’m keenly aware that saying that will make some uncomfortable. -If you really think about it though, subjecting the church to persecution and hardship would certainly get the church to start looking for the signs. -Maybe we need look no further than this as to why it’s not. Could it be that our godly lives will be proportionate to the persecution in our lives.

2 Timothy 3:12 NKJV Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.