Weekly Update: Fulfillment of prophecy before our very eyes

This week the Jewish people celebrated “Yom HaAliyah” – national Aliyah day. On this day, the entry of the Jewish people to the land under Joshua is remembered, as well as the return of the Jewish people in modern times, and the continuing contribution of olim (new immigrants) to the State of Israel. 

This comes at a time of the ongoing political crisis in Israel, and increasing tensions in the Middle East. Iran is increasing its nuclear capabilities, the US is pulling out of the Middle East, Turkey has gone ahead to destroy Kurdish communities in Syria, and Russia has succeeded in gaining supremacy on Israel’s doorstep. 

Who can doubt we are living in a time that the prophecies of the Old Testament are being fulfilled before our very eyes?

US accuses Iran of ‘nuclear extortion’ as Tehran expands enrichment at key plant

Times of Israel reports on the growing tensions between Iran and the West. “Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that Iran would resume enrichment at the plant near the Shiite holy city of Qom that was suspended under a 2015 nuclear accord with the United States and five other powers. It was the latest action by Iran to seek tangible benefits from the deal, from which the United States withdrew as President Donald Trump imposed sweeping sanctions aimed at reducing Tehran’s regional role.

The United States accused Iran on Tuesday of “nuclear extortion” and vowed no let-up in pressure after the clerical regime said it would resume uranium enrichment at the key Fordo plant. “Iran has no credible reason to expand its uranium enrichment program, at the Fordo facility or elsewhere, other than a clear attempt at nuclear extortion that will only deepen its political and economic isolation,” a State Department spokesperson said.”
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Ex-envoy to US Michael Oren warns of impending Israel-Iran ‘conflagration’

The situation with Iran is so serious that “a minor miscalculation by Jerusalem could lead to devastating war, with rockets raining down on Jewish state and overwhelming its defenses”, according to historian and former Israeli ambassador to the US.
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“Revival of the dead” – the return of the Jewish people to the land 

Naom Dvir reports at IsraelHayom that the numbers of Jews making Aliyah (ie. returning to the land of Israel) seems to be on the increase. “According to official statistics, 28,629 olim [Jewish immigrants – ed.] arrived in Israel between January and October 2019. Only a decade ago, the number of olim for roughly the same period stood at 17,179.”
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Yael Shahar made Aliyah to Israel as a 19 year-old from Texas. “The impetus for the move had not exactly been rational. I felt that the inner voice that had been part of my dialogue with God all my life had suddenly told me, Come to Israel.”
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European MP: Europe shouldn’t force its views on Jerusalem

Member of the European Parliament Karoline Edtstadler, a former deputy Interior Minister in Austria, who chairs EU parliament’s working group on anti-Semitism, says Europe needs to do much more to protect its Jewish community, including stationing police outside every Jewish institution.

She also says Brussels should not tell Israelis how to solve their conflict with the Palestinians. “I don’t live here [ie. in Israel – ed.], it’s not for me to judge what’s best for the people here,” Edtstadler said. “The Israelis and the Palestinians know best what’s right for them; better than we could ever know it. When you don’t live here you can’t fully comprehend what the conflict is like, and then you cannot get up and present the ultimate solution.”

Edtstadler is concerned about the rise in anti-Semitism in Europe. “There are three kinds of anti-Semitism: the old-fashioned kind, a new imported one, and anti-Zionism. It took a long time before people dared speaking about the imported anti-Semitism, but it’s a fact,” Edtstadler said, alluding to Jew-hatred among immigrant communities. “Anti-Zionism, which targets Israel, is the most difficult one, because you have to be well-educated to find out about it. We can never stop fighting anti-Semitism. It will exist forever,” she added. Read more..

The story of “Gog and Magog” continues

Malcom Lowe writes at Gatestone Institute that Russian President Putin has outsmarted all other leaders, in order to achieve Russian supremacy in Syria. In the process, President Trump has abandoned and continued to belittle the Syrian Kurds. 

“On October 22, Erdogan went to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin. This time, Erdogan feigned full satisfaction with a joint memorandum that limited his ethnic cleansing to an Arab-majority stretch of Syrian territory adjacent to the Turkish border, where few Kurds live anyway, while conceding the protection of all other Syrian Kurds to Putin. Trump claimed the entire credit for this outcome. But in reality it was the culmination of a scheme that Putin had been planning since at least January 2019, when he promoted a meeting between representatives of the Syrian Kurds and of the Assad regime. In short, the two meetings ended with the US administration claiming its strategic wisdom precisely as it surrendered its former substantial influence in Syria and established Russian supremacy in Syria.”
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“Focus on the future” – Video teachings by Rev. Willem J.J. Glashouwer 

Volume 2 episode 2: “The Bible clearly teaches us that we are in the end times. The things that are happening in the world around us that you daily see on the news have to do with the end times. The signs of the times are coming more and more visible. One of the signs of the times that the Bible speaks about is the coming of the antichrist. What is holding back the full revelation of this beast, this antichrist? How can we be safe, even in the last days?”

“In the footsteps of Abraham” – Video teachings by Johannes Gerloff 

Watch this series of teachings by Israeli-based Bible teacher and journalist Johannes Gerloff: 

In Episode 2, Johannes studies Genesis 11: “We love our nations. We defend our national interests, our cultures, our languages and ethnic identities. How does God view this? How does the Creator see ethnic diversity and migration that so often results from it?”