As we pray for the peace of Jerusalem

 

Prophetic News and Commentary

Weekend Edition,

Reporting April 14, 15, 16, 2006

 

 

 

Jeremiah 6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet….

Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,
V:7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

 

Psalms 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

 

 

 

Disclaimer: The opinions shared in the comments section of each article are the opinions of the commentator and are not meant to be an exact end-all to the study and interpretation of end-times events and how it relates to biblical prophecy.  Much of prophecy is subjective and open to many different interpretations.  What we wish to accomplish in this report is to encourage the reader to be as the Bereans and search the scriptures to see if these things are so (see Acts 17:10-11)

 

Note: Due to copyright concerns entire News Reports will not be posted on this page.  Please refer to the link for the full report.  Fair Use allows for partial posting of news reports where the report has significance to the purpose for which we are posting - in our case where news reports have potential prophetic impact.

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The following articles are compiled by:

Dave Hilling

Dave@WatchmenWatching.com

 

Last update - 00:04 15/04/2006

Iranian president: 'Rotten' Israel will be annihilated by 'one storm'

By News Agencies

 

Days after announcing that Iran had successfully enriched uranium, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday called Israel a "rotten, dried tree" that will be annihilated by "one storm."

 

Opening of at the opening ceremony of the Qods (Jerusalem) conference in Tehran on supporting the Palestinians, Ahmadinejad fired a series of verbal shots at Israel, saying it was a "permanent threat" to the Middle East that will "soon" be liberated, and again questioning the validity of the Nazi Holocaust against Jews in World War II.

 

"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihiliation," Ahmadinejad said. "The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm," he said.

 

"The existence of the Zionist regime is tantamount to an imposition of an unending and unrestrained threat so that none of the nations and Islamic countries of the region and beyond can feel secure from its threat," Ahmadinejad said.

 

Iran issues stark military warning to United States

 

Fri Apr 14, 4:12 PM ET

 

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran said it could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive, in one of the Islamic regime's boldest challenges yet to the United States.

"You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it," said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures.

 

"The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in

Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran.

 

The United States accuses Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a mask for weapons development. Last weekend US news reports said

President George W. Bush's administration was refining plans for preventive strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

 

Comments: Ezekiel 38:5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

 

 

Perhaps the Iranians need to change their brand of hashish.  Or perhaps they need to follow Teddy Roosevelt’s famous admonition to “walk softly and carry a big stick.” Either way, for a country with such limited military capabilities the Iranians are a rather boastful lot. These statements represent the most direct threats yet made against the nation of Israel.  We, of course, know that Persia (Iran) is one of the countries which will meet its doom in the war of Ezekiel 38. It sounds as if they are well along the way to starting that which the Lord God Himself will finish, The United States has no such Biblical guarantee of survival, but I believe we will continue to be blessed so long as we stand beside Israel. Only time will tell.

 

 

Syria, Iran move closer

By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

Published April 13, 2006

 

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria and Iran appear to have gained greater confidence and political stamina after Tehran succeeded in enriching uranium needed to produce nuclear arms.

   

Speaking to journalists after talks with visiting Iranian cleric Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Thursday, Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed Moallem said Syria and its ally Iran faced mounting pressures due to their resistance of foreign hegemony.

   

"When we ask why Syria and Iran are facing such tremendous pressures, the answer is simple, because they have independent stances and positions that serve the interests of their peoples and not foreign hegemony and occupation," Moallem said.

 

Comments: Isaiah 17:1-3 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

 

Syria, by aligning itself closely with Iran, is playing a dangerous game. There are those who believe that Damascus is the oldest continuously inhabited city on Earth, and it has never been completely destroyed. Yet Isaiah tells us that it shall become a ruinous heap. This may be at the Hands of God or it may be from a future American or Israeli nuclear bombardment. We are not told how Damascus will be destroyed, but we are told why:

 

Isaiah 17:10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength

 

Pope Calls for Peace, Diplomacy

 

By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer

Sunday April 16, 2006

 

VATICAN CITY - In his first Easter message as pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged nations to use diplomacy to defuse nuclear crises, a clear reference to worries over Iran, and prayed that Palestinians would one day have their own state alongside Israel.

 

On Christianity's most joyous day, which happened to fall on Benedict's own 79th birthday, the pontiff also prayed for Iraq's relentless violence to cease.

 

From the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict reflected on the globe's troubled regions shortly after he celebrated Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square, which was packed with 100,000 pilgrims and tourists on a breezy, hazy day.

 

Comments: Jeremiah 6:13-14 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

 

A peace gained by appeasing the Palestinians is no peace at. Nor will the Iranian nuclear crisis be solved by appeasement. While I am not casting the Pope in the role of False Prophet, it is this peace at any cost mentality that will lead directly to the rise of the Antichrist. If Pope Benedict wants to know how peace will finally be achieved in the Middle East and elsewhere, he needs only to open his Bible:

 

Rev 19:11-16 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

 

 

Iranians volunteer for "martyrdom missions"

 

By Parisa Hafezi

 

Sun Apr 16, 11:52 AM ET

 

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Some 200 Iranians have volunteered in the past few days to carry out "martyrdom missions" against U.S. and British interests if Iran is attacked over its nuclear program, a hardline group said on Sunday.

 

The United States and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to master enrichment technology to build atomic weapons, a charge Iran denies. Washington says it wants a diplomatic solution, but has not ruled out a military option.

 

Mohammad Ali Samadi, spokesman for the Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign, said fresh fears over a possible U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear sites helped attract volunteers during its latest recruitment drive.

 

"Because of the recent threats, we have started to register more volunteers since Friday," Samadi told Reuters by telephone.

 

 

Comments: If we are hit by suicide bombers in the wake of a potential strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, we will at least know whom to blame. The retaliation visited upon Iran would be terrible but just. Note to would-be suicide bombers: There will be no trip to Paradise, no milk and honey, no seventy-two virgins awaiting you. All your “martyrdom” will earn is an eternity in Hell. Turn back while there is yet time.

 

 

 

 

 

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The following articles are compiled by:

Leo Wong

Leo@WatchmenWatching.com

 

Iranian president inflames tensions with Israel by saying Israel is a dying tree

Source: CNN.com

 

April 14, 2006 -- Iran's president, who last October said Israel "must be wiped off the map," stoked tensions with the Jewish state Friday saying, "the Zionist regime is a dying tree, and soon its branches will be broken down."

 

Despite that, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech that Israel remains a threat to Islamic countries.

 

"The existence of the Zionist regime is tantamount to an imposition of an unending and unrestrained threat so that none of the nations and Islamic countries of the region and beyond can feel secure from its threat," Reuters News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in Friday's speech.

 

Comments: On the surface, it certainly does look like Israel is a dying (olive) tree.  Israel has shrunken in size compared to her glory days of Kings David and Solomon and definitely since its June 6, 1967, 6‑Day War size.  Since that eventful date, her misguided leaders have relented to international pressure to give away land like no other country.  Its present leadership under the auspices of newly elected Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his senior confidant Shimon (let’s make a deal) Peres offers no hope of reversing the land giveaway mentality.  They are bent on making peace at any cost.  It’s no wonder the Iranian president said what he said.  Israel appears to him as a dying dwindling nation.  All Israel needs to put herself out of her miseries are a few Iranian nukes perhaps.  But, Iran seems to have lost sight that Israel’s vaunted Air Force and her supposed possession of nukes are her physical shield and a mighty deterrent to any Arab invasion.  Iran’s underestimation of Israel’s military prowess may be to Iran’s ultimate humiliation and defeat on the battlefield.

 

They say appearances can be deceiving.  Behind the scenes, God is still in control unbeknown to a disbelieving Iran.  Israel may appear to be baring her neck to the vampire, but make no mistake about it,  Israel cannot be destroyed.   She will be severely tested in the near future and her foundations will be shaken, but total destruction is impossibility.  Take that to the bank!

 

Town of Corleone 'brighter' since Mafia arrest

Source: CNN.com

 

April 14, 2006 -- A cloud has lifted from Corleone, the Sicilian town made famous by "The Godfather" movies.

 

Since the arrest of reputed No. 1 mobster Bernardo Provenzano more than 40 years after he went into hiding, Corleone's mayor said Friday the town is "beaming" and people's fears have eased.

 

"People would stay at home instead of going out, as they sensed danger in the street. The true explosion came after Provenzano's arrest," Mayor Nicolo Nicolosi said in a telephone interview. "I see the town is beaming, it's brighter, and this light is the people's freedom."

 

Provenzano, meanwhile, met with defense lawyer Franco Marasa on Friday at his isolation cell in Terni, central Italy, the ANSA news agency reported.

 

Provenzano is believed to have taken over leadership of the Sicilian Mafia following the 1993 arrest of former boss Salvatore "Toto" Riina. During his years as a fugitive, Provenzano was convicted in absentia and given life sentences for more than a dozen murders of mobsters and investigators.

 

Comments:  The real godfather (2 Corinthians 4:4) of this world is the Devil himself.  He covertly influences (energizes) the gangsters that terrorize the ordinary citizens such that they cower in their homes and muffle what they say about the Mafia, Hell’s Angels and other organized crime kingpins of the such.  Such outfits deal in drugs, prostitution, extortion, kidnappings, money laundering, paying off corrupt politicians, fattening the pockets of shady lawyers, fostering terror, murders, etc.  They’re from the dark underworld, Satan’s lair.  They’re the Sopranos with baritone overtures.

 

Contrast this when people won’t longer be living in fear after Jesus Christ establishes his Millennium reign on Earth.  That 1,000‑year period will be totally free of the Devil’s influence.  Back to the present time, Earth’s inhabitants are subject to the Devil’s thugs.  People say they’re living in a free America, Canada, Italy, Sicily, etc., but their freedom is curtailed somewhat by Satan.  That’s not freedom! If Provenzano, the Don of Corleone had the people gripped in fear, that says much about this world, doesn’t it?  Italy and Sicily are doubly shackled by secular slavery (the Mafia) and religious servitude (the Vatican).  Such 2‑prong imprisonment requires God’s almighty liberation through His Jesus. Yet, many would refuse Jesus’s offer of true freedom.  Freedom from sin, the flesh and the Devil.  They rather choose the Devil’s prison over the pardon freely being granted by Jesus.

 

 

Russia’s Putin calls for a fair resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

Source: Radio Free Europe

 

April 15, 2006 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling for what he described as a "fair and comprehensive" solution to the Middle East conflict.

 

Addressing a gathering of foreign ambassadors at the Kremlin today, Putin said peace talks should resume with a view to creating an independent Palestinian state that would peacefully coexist with Israel. He also vowed to help the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmud Abbas, reach this objective.

 

Russia this week said it would continue financially helping the Palestinian government, led by the radical Hamas group. It also criticized a European Union decision to freeze all direct aid shipments to the Palestinian leadership until Hamas renounces violence and recognizes Israel. 

 

Comments:  For decades now since Israel’s rebirth on May 14, 1948, the Arabs and Russians (formerly Soviets) have perpetuated war rather than peace in order to destroy Israel.  Israel’s far superior military (thanks to Made in the USA technology) is simply no match for the disorganized Arabs and their antiquated Russian made armaments and aircraft.  A change in strategy was required.  Perhaps by forging a peace treaty with Israel, that piece of lambskin document would accomplish what tanks and foot soldiers could not.  Islam doesn’t believe in peace with its enemies, but in a truce that can last up to 10 years.  If Israel doesn’t like 10, then make it a Las Vegas lucky 7.  Israel will think that’s a peace deal and that’s what Islam is counting on.  The Israelis would swallow up all that legal jargon on the peace parchment, lay down their arms, and give peace a chance thinking that the leopard can indeed change its spots.

 

 

Pope Benedict condemns geneticists 'who play at being God'

Source: TIMES ONLINE

 

April 15, 2006 -- The Pope will deliver a blistering attack on the “satanic” mores of modern society today, warning against an “inane apologia of evil” that is in danger of destroying humanity.

 

In a series of Good Friday meditations that he will lead in Rome, the Pope will say that society is in the grip of a kind of “anti-Genesis” described as “a diabolical pride aimed at eliminating the family”. He will pray for society to be cleansed of the “filth” that surrounds it and be restored to purity, freed from “decadent narcissism”.

 

Particular condemnation is reserved for scientific advances in the field of genetic manipulation. Warning against the move to “modify the very grammar of life as planned and willed by God”, the Pope will lead prayers against “insane, risky and dangerous” ventures in attempting “to take God’s place without being God”.

 

Comments:  Unlike some past popes who lived lives that would even shock the most liberal Democrats on Capitol Hill, the late John Paul II and the present Pope Benedict have expounded virtuous moral values for living for their Catholic faithfuls.  Many people would nod with wholehearted agreement with the popes’ unwavering stances on abortion, homosexuality and now, human genetic engineering.  Roman Catholics believe in the Holy Trinity and that God creates human life.  Man is a mere mortal and laboratory creation of life is immoral and is akin to playing God.  Satan is behind this as he has always wanted to usurp God and supplant God’s Son Jesus Christ.  Pope Benedict wants all who has an ear and eyes to hear and read about his condemnation of Satan’s open attempts to destroy society as we know it.

 

 

Iran confirms it will fund Hamas government

Source:  Yahoo News

 

April 16, 2006 -- A senior Iranian official has confirmed that the Islamic republic will help fund the cash-strapped Hamas-led Palestinian government but declined to say how much aid would be given.

 

"Iran, like other countries, has an obligation to help the Palestinians. Currently we are not in a position to say how much this aid is. But any aid for any Islamic nation should be substantial," parliament speaker Gholam Ali Hadad Adel told reporters.

 

He was speaking Sunday at the end of a regime-sponsored conference in Tehran on supporting the Palestinians.

 

Top officials used the gathering to call for Islamic nations to fill the gap in Palestinian authority finances following a cut in aid from the United States and  the European Union.

 

Comments:  Iran, like all Islamic nations, does have an obligation to assist the Palestinian people. That is a given; no argument here from this commentator.  However, the past did not mirror the present.  In the days of Yasser Arafat, the oil rich Saudis, Kuwatis, Iraqis and Iranians used the Palestinian people as a pawn in their struggles with Israel and the Western world.  They could have publicly funded Arafat and his cronies (and they probably did by covert means), but they chose to decry the plight of the “poor” Palestinians and the propaganda worked to perfection.  The world community took pity on these “displaced” people and lambasted Israel for her oppression.  The U.N. and other anti-Israel factions called for substantial Western funding and the U.S. and E.U. played right into their hands.

 

Now that Hamas (an openly terrorist organization) has gained the governmental control of the Palestinians and Western funds have dried up to a trickle, Iran’s promise to fund the Palestinians is aimed at shaming the world.  How could the world allow these impoverish Palestinians to starve?  They shouldn’t be punished for electing a violence promoting group.  The Islamic propaganda machine is primed and the world is taken in by it once again.  It’s like that Carpenters’ song, “Yesterday Once More”.

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Poll: Nearly half of Russians favor allowing Putin 3rd term for lack of worthy successor

Source: KYIV POST

 

April 16, 2006 -- Forty-five percent of Russians are prepared to see the constitution changed to allow President Vladimir Putin serve a third term because they see no worthy successor, and 21 percent are prepared for such an amendment in case of an emergency such as an economic crisis or terrorist attack, according to a poll by the Yuri Levada Analytical Center.

 

The survey, released Thursday, showed 24 percent of Russians vehemently opposed to amending the constitution to permit a president to serve more than two terms; 10 percent did not express their preferences.

 

The poll of 1,600 respondents in 128 settlements had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

 

Comments:  The President of Russia is a job that goes begging it would seem.  Kelly Temporary Services would be hard pressed to earn its commission if it ever got the contract to search and select a suitable candidate.  Who would want to become Gog, the leader of Magog, and be judged by God during the upcoming Ezekiel 38/39 invasion of Israel?  On top of that, who would want to be assailed for the destruction of 5/6 of the Russian Federation military?  The blame game will surely follow after God puts an effective end to Russia’s imperialistic ambitions and anti‑Semitism.

 

Russia like many other nations have rethreads vying for the top government position.  Example:  Romano Prodi in Italy will be serving his second term as prime minister.  Youngbloods just don’t seem to want the leadership mantle.  In Russia particularly, the wages are meagre.  The CEOs’ pay in America would make Putin cry in his vodka.  Putin takes solace in the terrific fringe benefits the job entails.  Unlimited caviar and Molotov are a nice tradeoff to a Spartan governmental residence and devalued rubles.  Former Russian presidents (and premiers) do get a generous retirement package consisting of a comfortable apartment and a pension that’s indexed to double digit inflation.  At least, they don’t have to line up for daily bread like ordinary Russians do.

 

Putin will most likely retain the presidency by default.  That says much about a position that has lost its luster from the glory days of Peter and Catherine the Great and even as recent as Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.   It was Yeltsin who personally chose (recruited him from the KGB) Putin to succeed him.  Putin could do much worse than being president like driving a taxi in Moscow, the pothole capital of the Russian Federation.

 

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The following articles are compiled by:

Rick Allinson

Rick@WatchmenWatching.com

 

 

Britain's top scientist sees dangerous rise in global warming                                                                                                                      

Source: Breitbart

14 April 2006 -- In a grim warning on climate change, the British government's chief scientist said the world must immediately put into place measures to address global warming, even if they take decades to produce results.

Sir David King said that, even by the most optimistic forecasts, carbon dioxide levels are set to rise to double what they were at the time of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century.

That will lead to a three-degree centigrade rise in temperature, King said, adding that if nothing is done to manage such change, few eco-systems on Earth will be able to adapt.

Even worse, said King in an interview on BBC radio, up to 400 million people around the world would find themselves at risk of hunger, because 20 million to 400 million tonnes of cereal production will be lost.

In Britain, the main threat will be flooding and "coastal attack" as a result of rising sea levels.

 

Comments:  This winter was one of the warmest recorded in history. There is no doubt that global warming is playing havoc with weather systems all over the globe. According to this article it is going to get worse and if the world doesn’t act soon to stop the problem soon, the world will be at risk. Even now, severe weather, floods (2) (3) , and famine  are being blamed on global warming it is an everyday occurrence.  The bible tells us that it will get worse and that we are to expect it.

 

Mr 13:8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

Lu 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

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Arab bloc requests fresh UN debate on Israeli actions in Gaza
Source: Haaretz

15 April 2006 -- The Arab states on Friday requested an open debate in the United Nations Security Council on Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip, a day after the Council failed to agree on a statement on the recent surge in violence between Israel and the Palestinians. The United States nixed the draft, proposed by Qatar, calling it unfairly critical of Israel.

The draft, put forward on behalf of the Palestinians, would have expressed concern about the "indiscriminate shelling against the Gaza Strip, resulting in extensive human casualties" and called on Israel to halt "military operations and excessive use of force that endangers the Palestinian civilian populations."The United States had argued for its long-standing belief that any such statement mention both sides' obligations under the road map and cite Palestinian attacks against Israel as well.

 

Comments:  The Palestinians have been firing rockets into Israel for months and without a hint of condemnation from the United Nations. As soon as Israel takes action to stop this indiscriminate firing into Israeli towns, the Security Council starts a draft to condemn Israel’s actions.  The U.N. is a biased organization and this is shown in all their actions towards Israel. It’s a good thing that Israel has a friend in the United States.

 

Am 6:14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.

Zec 12:3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

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Keep watching!


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Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

 

 

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