THE COMING OF THE MAHDI

 



Have you ever looked down the barrel of a cocked gun ? It is not a good feeling. We here in Israel are currently looking down  the 'barrels' of some 23,000 missile launchers, according to IDF sources.  This is not a comfortable feeling. This coming week the IDF and the Home Front Command will be carrying out a massive, nation-wide exercise designed to prepare the nation for an anticipated simultaneous attack by Hezbollah, from Lebanon and Syria, by Iran, and by Hamas in Gaza. Sirens will sound twice during the day, once during working hours and once in the evening, so that citizens can identify safe places, both at work and at home, to take cover in the event of a missile attack. The Home Front Command will practice dealing with an anticipated 300-400 casualties in the first attack, and the IDF combat units will prepare for an expected attempt by Hezbollah to infiltrate and capture an Israeli town or kibbutz near the northern border.. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4855393,00.html

The Home Front Command is telling us to prepare for war, but the question arises, "How?" Yes, we can stockpile food and water, clear out our safe rooms (if we have one) but is that going to be enough? Practicalities apart, how does one prepare oneself emotionally for all-out war? I have been through around 5 wars since I moved to Israel but all indications are that the next war is expected to be far worse, especially on the home front, than any we have experienced so far.

In my experience, people seem to fall into two categories. One group takes the threat seriously and makes preparation, but a subgroup fo these  become crippled by fear. The other group ignores the threat, makes no preparations, and lives in denial. I can remember the day before the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1991. I was working at a major hospital in the Galilee and was totally shocked that it appeared no preparations had been made to protect the hospital. At the last minute people were sent out to frantically scout the towns around to buy masking tape and plastic for sealing up the rooms from possible gas attack. With the whole country racing about trying to buy plastic sheeting and tape it was almost impossible to find any, and prices had skyrocketed too. And all this was in spite of the fact that we had had around 3 months to prepare. There were many people who didn't believe the war would happen until the missiles actually began to hit the ground. 

The question then, how best should one prepare for war. Of course we should stockpile food, water and medicines if we can, but much more importantly it is a time for drawing close to God. That is the best preparation I know. It calls for a calm mind, faith and trust that our Shepherd is still watching his flock and will once again protect us.

From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 121: 1-4

Though we may suffer great losses in the next war,  I have total faith that God will not allow Israel to be destroyed, even though that is the goal of our many enemies. How many times lately have we heard the call of the Ayatollah in Iran and the 'Caliph' of the Islamic State not to mention others, boldly calling for the total destruction of first the little Satan (Israel) and then the big Satan (the USA)?  We have heard it so many times that we are in danger of falling prey to the 'boy who cried wolf' syndrome. However because it hasn't happened yet, it doesn't mean it will not happen. We, both here in Israel and the whole world, need to take these threats seriously. They are not just empty rhetoric.

While many Christians are busy interpreting the multitude of wars, earthquakes, famines, societal breakdown, and widespread violence  as the prophesied events leading up to the return of our Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus), it might come as a surprise to many to know that many Muslims are interpreting these same events as the precursor to the coming of their 'Messiah', the Mahdi.

Who is the Mahdi?

Mahdi is a title not a personal name, and it is an Arabic word meaning 'the Guided'. It is rendered Mehdi in Farsi (Persian), Turkish and Urdu.  Both Sunni and Shia Muslims expect the coming of the Mahdi. They agree that the Mahdi will be a descendant of Mohammed, but  they do not agree on his identity and role.  In Sunni Islam the Mahdi is a normal person, who will be born in Medina,  and he will act as a messenger or forerunner of Allah.  In Shia Islam the Mahdi is the supernatural reappearance of the 12th Imam who was born in 869AD, became an Imam at the age of 5, and then mysteriously disappeared at the age of 73. He is believed to be currently in 'occultation' (hidden)  awaiting his return at the end of the age. This is a central tenant of Shia faith and indeed their whole faith system is based on it. They believe that at the end of the age, the Mahdi will return accompanied by Isa (Jesus) to conquer the world and cleanse it of all non-Muslims.

The distribution of Sunni and Shia Muslims in the Middle East and Northern Africa
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/red-lines-and-deadlines/map-sunni-and-shia-the-worlds-of-islam/?p=2539

Although Iran is predominantly Shia and ISIS is Sunni, they have this in common, that they both believe the end times for the non-Muslims are imminent, and they have a calling from Allah to prepare the ground for the coming of the Mahdi, and the final conquest of the non-Muslim world. They will both do whatever it takes to achieve that.
 
They also believe there are three important signs that the coming of the Mahdi is imminent:

1. Civil war in the lands of Sham (Syria)
2. Iraq will be engulfed in domestic militia wars
3. The non-Muslim world will become vulnerable to Muslims and Islamic rulers.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/261559/end-world-muhammad-mahdi-coming-dr-majid-rafizadeh
 
The first two have clearly been fulfilled and the Muslim world as a whole believes the third is well on its way to fulfillment. Muslims see the Western world as weak and  floundering in moral and social decay. Our desire to talk, make peace and sign treaties is interpreted as a sign of weakness and vulnerability.

The Western nations believe that all conflict can be resolved by talks and treaties, but this presumes there is an overriding desire for peace. This is simply not so in the Muslim world. There can be no negotiating with the false god of Allah. He is hell-bent on world conquest and has no interest in peace. For Christian or Messianic believers there can be no sitting on the fence in these days. Many misguided Christians confuse Jesus' unconditional love of the individual with a tolerance of their various faiths. It cannot be. Jesus hated these lies and the bondage they bring to individuals. He was not afraid to speak out against false religious systems. It is therefore disturbing that between the 4-11 of September a temporary house of prayer for all believers, Jewish, Muslim and Christian, was opened here in Jerusalem. This prayer center is called "Amen - A House of Prayer for All Believers" and is part of the  Mekudeshet Festival of the month-long Season of Culture in Jerusalem. There can however be no fellowship between lies and Truth, between darkness and Light.

 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?  And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?  And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?

2 Corinthians 6:14-16.

 



Jews, Arabs and Christians pray together in the Amen - A House of Prayer for All Believers
http://www.tabletmag.com/wp-content/files_mf/amencur.png



Perhaps it is significant that this interfaith prayer gathering took place in the Hinnom Valley. This valley which is a deep ravine on the southern side of the ancient city of Jerusalem, is called Gai Hinnom in Hebrew and it is from this that we get our English word Gehenom, which  is synonymous with Hell. This valley is where  terrible pagan gods were worshipped during Israel's rebellion against God. Here stood the statute of the bull god, Moloch, and the Israelites burned their infants alive in the arms of this horrible god. This place is also known as Tophet, which comes from the Hebrew word for drums. It is said that the Israelites sounded drums to drown out the cries of the children being cooked alive on the idol.

And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.
Jeremiah 7:31

http://nationalvanguard.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Moloch-and-His-Minions.jpg

The Valley of Hinnom is a terrible place but even that will  be made holy again to the Lord, and there are even those who today pray for its restoration to holiness according to the prophecy of Jeremiah.

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the city shall be built for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.   The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath.   And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”
Jeremiah 31: 38-41

 It is no wonder that the Enemy is trying to maintain his hold on this ancient Satanic stronghold.

The timing of this interfaith prayer initiative is also significant as it took place at the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul,  an important time for Jews of repentance and introspection leading up to the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShana), the Days of Awe, Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles.  This is a holy time when God is calling his people to return to Him and repent. The Enemy fights against this in any way he can. Deception is one of his most successful weapons.

In contrast to this interfaith event, the Messianic Body here in Israel will be holding its own prayer meeting with the goal of reconciliation between Arab and Jew on the first of October here in Jerusalem. Although this is not the first joint Arab and Jewish prayer meeting, it is the first  which is being jointly organized by  all the leaders of both the Jewish and Arab evangelical congregations in the land. We see this as a very significant event spiritually, so please join us in prayer for its success.

With the approach of the High Holy Days it is no mere coincidence  that over the last few days we have seen an upsurge in terror in and around the city once more, after several weeks of relative calm. In the last 48 hours there have been 6 terror attacks resulting in the wounding of two soldiers and three Israeli civilians.  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4855901,00.html Security measures are being augmented in the city and surrounding areas.

In the last two weeks ten missiles have also been fired into northern Israel apparently as 'spillover' from the fighting in Syria. Yesterday two were shot down by the Iron Dome antimissile batteries and no damage was done.

An Iron Dome battery (Photo AP)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4855806,00.html
 

Please pray for Israel in the coming days. We face serious threats both spiritually and in the natural. However we have no need to fear. God is greater than all the armies of man, and spiritual beings behind them. He will be victorious. Let us not be easily shaken.


We have to wake up to that reality. We are in the throes of an intense spiritual war between the true God and his Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus). and the false messiahs of the false god, Allah.  The Western world insists in believing that the Muslim world wants peace (just as much as we do) and is open to negotiation.  While this may be true of many Muslims as individuals it is not true of their religious leaders, and since Islam is a religion of submission to authority, that is what matters. If their leaders call them to war, good Muslims will go, and will fight to the death for Jihad, world domination.







http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/261559/end-world-muhammad-mahdi-coming-dr-majid-rafizadeh

BUILDING ON THE ROCK

Sunday 4th 

I have just turned on the TV to learned that this morning a parking building under construction in Tel Aviv has collapsed, killing 2 and injuring 24. Five other workers are still missing under the collapsed building. Rescuers are currently trying to find them, in spite of the risk of further collapse. A gag-order has been imposed on the press concerning the cause of the collapse, which is still under investigation. In the absence of real information there is a lot of speculation as to the cause, but it seems likely that there is some degree of negligence involved.  

Building collapse in Tel Aviv
http://www.mcclatchy-wires.com/wire_photos/rupbqv/picture100033757/ALTERNATES/FREE_640/852Mideast%20Israel%20Building%20Collapse.JPEG

An injured person being rescued from the building.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1727861/at-least-three-killed-and-dozens-feared-dead-after-building-collapses-in-israeli-city-of-tel-aviv/

 

This tragedy brought to mind the issue of Israel's preparedness, or lack of preparedness, for a major earthquake. Following the recent earthquake in Italy, once more the issue was raised in the Press. Israel lies on the West African Rift, which stretches from Africa to Syria,  and is therefore prone to earthquake activity.  Ancient ruins around the country show plenty of evidence of massive damage due to earthquakes in the past, and there are a number of earthquakes mentioned in the Bible (for example: Amos 1:1, Zechariah 14:5). However because there have not been any significant earthquakes in the last hundred years or so, public consciousness of the risk is low. Many of the buildings built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were built from unreinforced concrete block or stone, and are therefore at great risk of collapse in an earthquake. Since the 1980s buildings have been required to meet strict standards but it is estimated that as many as 99% of buildings built before 1980 are unsafe. Eleven years ago, a bill, called the Tama 38 bill, was passed requiring the  fortification of substandard buildings but so far less than 1% of those buildings have actually been renovated.  A Government Steering Committee has estimated that if an earthquake 7.5 on the Richter Scale, centered around Beit Shean, were to occur, some 16,000 could be expected to die, and 6,000 seriously injured, 10,000 buildings completely destroyed and  some 377,000 people would be left homeless. This is a pretty frightening scenario. Every time there is an earthquake in the region, we hear such predictions, and the issue briefly stirs up the Press and our awareness, but pretty quickly these concerns are buried under other issues that seem more urgent, and nothing much gets done.  



http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4847567,00.html

 

In addition to substandard buildings, much of the population of Israel lives along the coastal plain and those cities are built on sand, which may be prone to liquefaction in an earthquake. Furthermore Tel Aviv and other coastal cities are very low lying and could be seriously affected by a tsunami. Herod's great port at Caesarea, just 30 km north of Tel Aviv, was most probably destroyed by a tsunami in AD 115.   http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/34/12/1061.abstract

 

Yeshua spoke of the wisdom of building one's house on the rock. Of course he was speaking metaphorically and drawing a spiritual parallel, but the point remains.



Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:   and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:   and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Matthew 7:24-27

Sunday 11th September

A week has passed and yesterday the last body was pulled from the rubble of the collapsed parking building, bringing the death toll to 6.  The search and rescue teams worked 24 hours a day and it took them seven days to extract the last of the missing. Imagine if we faced a disaster of a greater scale, whether an earthquake or a massive missile attack. Search and rescue resources would be overwhelmed and many would die a slow and horrible death buried under collapsed buildings. It doesn't bear thinking about.

 

Please pray for our courageous men and women who every day selflessly put their own lives at risk to protect us, the soldiers, the border police, the police, ambulance workers, search and rescue teams etc. I am constantly amazed by their dedication and courage. We watched tens of rescuers this week entering into the still shaky remains of the parking building. How frightening it must have been, knowing that any moment there could be another collapse burying them. Yet they did it. Thank God that a further collapse did not occur and all the rescue workers and their search dogs made it out safely.

 

All these things are a reminder of how totally we must depend on God. He is our protector and our savior. There is no way any government nor human organization can protect us adequately from all the potential threats, whether natural or man made.

 

 

On another topic altogether, I just read how an island has appeared in the southern part of the Sea of Galilee, more evidence of its drastic reductions in level. Summer is drawing to a close and our thoughts are now turning in anticipation to the winter rains. Authorities are however very concerned by the ongoing drought. In the last few years the pattern of rainfall in Israel has changed with more rain falling in the south and the north receiving much less.   As of today the water level in the Sea of Galilee is -213.42 m, which is some 0.42 of a meter below the bottom red line at which ecological damage begins to occur. The level is currently dropping at a rate of 6cm per day. http://forecast.israelinfo.co.il/kineret .  If the level is too low the pressure on the bottom is reduced and this could allow salt water infiltration into the fresh water lake. There are some 20 different species of fish in the Sea of Galilee, many of which are found no where else in the world. It also supports a rich array of other species such as turtles, frogs and birds.  It is also still Israel's main source of drinking water.  Receding water levels create other dangers too. This week a number of unexploded shells were found on a beach. A police spokesman says they are thought to have been abandoned by Turkish soldiers as they fled oncoming British forces during WWI.  Just two weeks ago a number of mortar shells were also uncovered.  One wonders how much more unexploded ordnance might lie just under the water.

 

An Israeli police handout photograph shows what a police spokesperson says are World War One artillery shells discovered in the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias, Israel, made avaliable by Israeli police on September 6, 2016. Israeli Police Spokesperson/Handout via Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-shells-idUSKCN11C1LH?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29
 

The Israeli Water Authority's Hydrological Services, in 2013, predicted that Israel will face a long and difficult drought from 2015-2035, which will be even more severe than the previous two drought periods. http://www.jpost.com/Enviro-Tech/Water-Authority-Severe-drought-from-2015-2035-312310

 

According to Israel Today, the deputy head of the Kinneret Authority told Israel’s Ynet news portal that “everyone needs to pray for a rainy winter.” Indeed the water authority is predicting below average rainfall in the coming months.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/30022/Default.aspx

 

Prophecies indicate that there will be a great drought in the region immediately prior to the coming of the Messiah. For example, the prophet Nahum, predicted that

The Lord has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
⁴ He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers.
Bashan and Carmel wither,
And the flower of Lebanon wilts.

Nahum 1: 3-4

 

Some are saying that the current drought is the beginning of this great drought. Time will tell if they are right or not.

 

Prophecies relating to the end times also say that when the Messiah returns the Mount of Olives will split apart creating two rivers, one flowing into the Dead Sea and the other into the Mediterranean.

And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south....

And in that day it shall be
That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem,
Half of them toward the eastern sea
And half of them toward the western sea;
In both summer and winter it shall occur.

Zechariah 14:   4, 8

 

 

Geologically speaking such a phenomenon is entirely possible. Geologists tell us that a fault line divides the Mount of Olives from East to West,  and we all know there are vast underground water reserves beneath our feet. Yesterday I visited the Soreq Stalactite Caves which are about a half hour drive from here. Once again I was astounded by the amount of water trickling down the stalactites and lying in pools,  even at the end of a dry summer. The Judean Mountains are made of limestone and chalk, and are eroded into a honeycomb of tunnels, caves and caverns, a veritable sponge which  through the centuries have soaked up and retained a vast reservoir of water. 

 

 

 

A pool in Soreq Cave

 

All these things are a reminder of how totally we must depend on God. He is our protector and our savior. There is no way any government nor human organization can protect us adequately from all the potential threats, whether natural or man made.

 

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

Zechariah 1: 5-7