Zechariah 2:8
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

Good Wednesday Morning Everyone.

Today I am going to post another article on the plan by the "Quartet", to force Israel to give away Covenant Lands in order for the Palestineans to have a homeland. This is an article from CBN and gives a little different slant on the issue. I have said it many times on these postings that the real area to watch in light of Bible Prophecy is Israel and Jerusalem.

We now have Mr Blair wanting to be President of the EU (formerly know as the Revived Roman Empire) and now our possibility of going into Syria after more terrorist. We have wars and rumors of wars and we have much pestilence. All these things must come to pass (Matt: 24). However when you begin to see the world assume control of Gods Land and interfere with a Blood Covenant that he gave to Israel then serious consequences will begin to occur. America should stay out of this mess. We have been blessed by the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Our Nation in the past was proud of her Christian Heritage and our leaders have been warned by Bible Believing Pastors and Leaders the consequences of getting involved with this issue. It truly is the birth pangs of bringing forth the Antichrist Government prophecied of in scripture. I pray our country will not involve itself in this ungodly course.

God Bless
Elaine

From the News Desk Of CBN

by By John Waage
Middle East Correspondent

April 22, 2003

When the world's power brokers get together to plan the future borders of the Middle East, there is little evidence to suggest that they are consulting the Bible.



CBN.com – JERUSALEM - Diplomats from the so-called "quartet" - the U.N., the European Union, Russia and the U.S. - are pushing hard for their "road map" to Middle East peace. But there are two very different road maps for Bible believers and the international community.

The quartet's road map calls for an end to the violence against Israel, and a Palestinian state within two years. But the violence hasn't ended, and the proposed state would be in the heart of biblical Israel: the lands of Judea and Samaria.

In the diplomatic minefield of the West Bank, nearly every town and neighborhood has its roots in Bible times. The Arab city of Nablus is the Jewish town of Shechem, home of Joseph's tomb. The Palestinian stronghold of Bethlehem is the Jewish city of David and the birthplace of Jesus. And Jerusalem is the Holy City, mentioned hundreds of times in scripture.

When the world's power brokers get together to plan the future borders of the Middle East, there is little evidence to suggest that they are consulting the Bible.

Elon Moreh is in the heart of biblical Samaria. It is the place where the Lord made a covenant with Abraham thousands of years ago, to give this land to him and his descendants forever.

In the Genesis account, the Lord promised to Abraham's descendants, Israel, the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. Bible scholars differ about the lines of the exact boundaries. But it is clear that the biblical borders of Israel include all of what is now called the West Bank, the land earmarked by the quartet for a Palestinian state.

Reuven Berger is a messianic pastor who works and prays for reconciliation between Jews and Arabs. He says there is no provision in the Bible for a Palestinian state.

"Very simply, if we look into the scripture, we will find no such reality, no such promise. The scripture speaks of the promise of the land to the people of Israel, and a restoration that God will bring forth, physically and spiritually," Berger said.

Berger says it should not be a surprise that the international community is so focused on the Holy Land. He said, "Man and the whole Babylonian world system is going to absolutely try and find a human solution to bring peace to the Middle East, because they understand that this is the heart of the whole world issue. But actually they're going to have to deal with God. Because, first of all, God says it is His land."

The diplomatic push for a Palestinian state has gained strong momentum since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. For months, President Bush has promised such a state if the Palestinians, under new leadership, stop their violence against Israel and enact democratic reforms. He has also made it clear what Israel must do.

On March 14 of this year, Bush said, "The government of Israel, as the terror threat is removed and security improves, must take concrete steps to support the emergence of a viable and credible Palestinian state, and to work as quickly as possible toward a final status agreement. As progress is made toward peace, settlement activity in the occupied territories must end."

Most of the 200,000 Jewish residents in the West Bank - Judea and Samaria - would disagree with President Bush's contention that they live in occupied territory.

Miriam Fox, a resident of the Alon Shvut community, said, "Whenever people talk about the Bible, they kind of sound like religious fanatics. But at the risk of sounding like one, the Old Testament is very clear that this piece of real estate belongs to the Jewish people, that it's an everlasting inheritance."

Eve Harow, a resident of Efrat, said, "I think it's really unconscionable to think that Jews should once again be transferred out of Judea and Samaria."

Harow says for many Palestinians, the state of Israel is the real issue. "They have yet to accept not just the fact that Jews live in Judea and Samaria, they have yet to accept the fact that there are Jews in the Middle East, because that's really what this is all about. And all you have to do is look in their websites and their textbooks to see that their maps of the Middle East say Palestine in place of Israel, not next to Israel. It's not about Judea and Samaria. It's about the right of Jews to have a state of our own in this part of the world," she said.

But after decades of pressure on successive Israeli governments, even some leaders who helped build the Jewish communities in the West Bank now say they have resigned themselves to a Palestinian state. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is one such leader.

In an April 13th interview, Sharon told the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz: "We are talking about the cradle of the Jewish people. Our whole history is bound up with these places - Bethlehem, Shiloh, Bethel. And I know that we will have to part with some of these places. As a Jew, this agonizes me. But I have decided to make every effort to reach a settlement. I feel that the rational necessity to reach a settlement is overcoming my feelings."

But that is not enough for many Palestinians, who learn from the time they are in pre-school that all of Israel is the land of Palestine. Leaders of Hamas and other terrorist groups vow to fight the road map and any other proposal that would keep Israel in charge of the land.

Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz Rantisi said, "I believe that we are going to escalate our resistance, because the resistance in Palestine (is) representing the hope of the nation."

The Palestinian terrorist groups have tried to make good on their threats. Israeli security forces fielded more than 60 threats of terrorist attacks during the Passover holiday, and at least 10 were arrested for planned suicide bombings.

Still, the Bush administration's road map partners - Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - want a faster timetable for a Palestinian state. But the quartet has been slow to explain what it would do to keep terrorists from killing Israelis.

In the meantime, Israelis who believe the Bible's promises for the land, say they are looking to the author of the scriptures.

Efrat resident Yacov Coblentz said, "The Jewish people couldn't possibly have settled the land of Israel; the Jewish people couldn't possibly have survived so many wars without Divine help. We were getting it the whole time. We'll get it (bezat hashem), we'll get it forever. If we pray properly, we'll get it."

Reuven Berger said, "God has a plan. He has a plan of blessing. He has a plan of peace. And you cannot bypass Israel. Israel is at the heart of that plan. And that's why the nations, in their hatred for Israel, they are depriving themselves of the very blessing that God has for them."

Note From Me: Have you read the new book out in the Left Behind Series entitled Armageddon? This book is awesome and will leave you hanging on until the next book. Way to go Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins!

ARE YOU READY FOR THE RAPTURE?


John3:16

Matthew 28
1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.



HE IS RISEN!

I wonder what it would have been like that day to be with the Mary's and walk to the tomb of our Lord and see a great Angel there telling the story of his Resurrection. Oh what a glorious morning when our Lord arose just like he said he would. How wonderful is the scripture for us that says:

"'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1st Corinthians 15 :55-57

World Net Daily today has reprinted an article written in 2001 about the cloth that was wrapped around our Lords face at his burial. However she goes so deeply into the history of the time that I thought it might thrill you as it has me. Today is the day we remember that our Lord fulfilled his
promise to man beginning in Genesis 3: 15 vs. 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Praise ye the Lord this day for great things he hath done! Praise him for his gift of forgiveness through his shed blood on Calvary's Cross. Praise him that just as he fulfilled this promise, he is coming again to set things right forever!

HE AROSE
Up from the grave he arose
with a mighty triumph o're his foes
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with his saints to reign.
He Arose!
He Arose!
Hallelujah Christ Arose.

World Net Daily

THE MAN OF THE CLOTH
by Mary Jo Anderson

The first thing you notice is that the linen is so ordinary. An eggshell-colored rectangle of coarse linen, now dirty and discolored with blood, lymph and sweat, it is nonetheless a remarkable testament of the passion of Jesus Christ. The Sudarium Domini is that other burial cloth described in the Gospel of John, "He saw the linen cloths lying there and the cloth which had been around Jesus' head. It was not lying with the linen cloths, but was rolled up by itself" (John 20:6-7).

The Sudarium, say researchers, authenticates the more widely known Shroud of Turin, a 14-foot swath of fine linen believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. The Shroud of Turin is familiar to believers and non-believers alike, yet few know of the existence of this separate cloth that has lain for centuries in a tiny chapel in the principality of Asturias, in northern Spain. The linen has only recently captured the interest of the scientific world. Hidden from view for more than a thousand years, the Sudarium surfaces at the dawn of the third millennium, thrusting into the modern world fresh testimony of the suffering and death of a crucified man.

After journalistic investigations into the "Cloth of Oviedo," as the Sudarium is also known, I departed on Ash Wednesday for Oviedo, Spain, to personally view the cloth that few have ever seen. Last summer I had traveled to Spain to interview the dean of the cathedral of San Salvador, Don Rafael Somoano, who explained how history and medical science have been unraveling the testimony of the Sudarium. On that occasion it was not possible to view the ancient cloth that contains the Blood of Christ. So profound was my disappointment that it seemed a physical blow. Unexpectedly, in February I received an invitation to return to Oviedo to see the Sudarium.

During the Ash Wednesday flight, I re-read Mark Guscin's "The Oviedo Cloth," as well as material on the passion: "The Day Christ Died" and the essay from the Mayo Clinic, "On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ." In particular, I noted all the injuries to the head and face, since the Sudarium had been wrapped around his head while Jesus was still upright on the cross.

The mind recoils at the brutality inflicted on this victim -- whomever one believes him to be. Blood first fell from his brow in the garden at Gethsemane. In deeply human distress, Christ experienced the rare phenomenon of hematidrosis, when capillaries burst and blood and sweat mix. During interrogation by Caiaphas, the high priest, Jesus was spat upon and repeatedly struck on the head and face. (Mark 15:65)

The lacerations on the lower neck, back, buttocks and legs from the scourging left torn muscles gaping open and his flesh weeping blood. Medical evidence indicates two soldiers, standing on opposite sides of their victim, beat Christ. The patterns of the scourge marks are visible on the Shroud of Turin. The whips, a flagrum with lead balls or sheep bone tied to the tips of the leather thongs, slashed into the subcutaneous tissue.

Crowning with thorns was not a typical practice -- it seems to have been reserved for this singular victim -- as no record exists that reports its use before or after Christ. Descriptions of the crown of thorns -- more, a helmet of thorns -- cause one to cringe in sympathy with such agony. Spikes an inch or more in length were hammered into the scalp.

In the hushed Camara Santa, a small chapel dating from the ninth century, the priest set the Sudarium on top of its silver reliquary. The pattern of reddish bloody stains and the pale sepia stains of mixed blood and lymph cover areas where scabbed blood is clearly visible. The eye is drawn to small dots off to one side. I recalled what Guscin had written: "Shortly after death, the Sudarium was wrapped round the head in the following way: It was positioned beginning at the back of the head, where wounds were caused by sharp objects. …" Piercing thorns wounded his head; this cloth holds the very blood that oozed from that mocking crown. Centuries fall away and breathing ceases: I am gazing upon the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Herodotus, historian of the ancient world, writes that crucifixion was a grisly practice employed by the Persian king, Darius. Alexander the Great crucified 2,000 victims at the siege of Tyre. From the 20th century discovery of the Qumran scrolls, we have the Pesher of Nahum (Qumran Cave 4) that reveals that the Essenes, a Jewish sect, also practiced crucifixion. Jewish law called for the penalty of "hanging on a tree" as punishment for blasphemy or idolatry. Cicero named crucifixion as the supreme punishment, and the public spectacle of such a cruel death was meant to subdue the people. Our English word "excruciating" is derived from the agony suffered during crucifixion.

The second century A.D. Roman historian, Tacitus, recorded that "Nero fabricated scapegoats and punished ... Christians. Their originator, Christ, had been executed in Tiberius' reign by the governor of Judaea, Pontius Pilatus." The gospel relates that Pilate tried to release Jesus, asking, "What evil hath he done? I find him not guilty," but that the crowd shouted for the release of Barabbas. "Bar-abbas" means "son of a father." At the fulcrum of history, the Son of God is condemned and rejected while everyman's son, a convicted rebel and murderer, is preferred by the mob. The guilty man is unchained and the Son of God takes his place.

The news of CNN founder Ted Turner's Ash Wednesday gaffe greeted my return. "What are you, a bunch of Jesus freaks?" Turner accused his employees. The crowd is still urged to choose Barabbas instead of Christ.

Today, as in the time of Jesus' passion, conflicting messages vie for the attention of the masses. Tuesday of Holy Week, the Dutch senate passed a bill legalizing euthanasia. But in France, a simple annual ceremony at Sainte Chappele, built by King Louis IX to protect a fragment of the crown of thorns, draws pilgrims from throughout Europe. The king brought the fragment to France from his journeys to the Holy Land during the crusades. The young are especially silent and reflective as they file pass this artifact of the crucifixion.

In England, where human embryos are approved for scientific experiments, an Anglican minister sees the shadow of the fifth plague of Egypt in the bovine bonfires dotting his nation, now terrified by mad cow disease. Yet, an April 10 Church of England Newspaper article reports that a fragment of the titulus cruces (Latin for title board) that Pilate had affixed to the cross of Jesus, has been kept in the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome. It was discovered in 1492 during the restoration of a 5th century mosaic that depicts "the legendary discovery of the True Cross in Jerusalem by the Empress Helena," mother of Emperor Constantine the Great (326 A.D.).

Recently, that walnut board was studied by Carsten Thiede, a German New Testament scholar who believes the evidence supports dating the titulus at the time of Jesus' crucifixion. Thiede, who teaches at the Ben-Gurion University in Israel and British journalist, Matthew D'Ancona, wrote a book, "The Quest for the True Cross." The book details their study of the titulus. They wrote, "What is certain is that this relic is one of the most potentially important in the Christian world." The titulus has three lines written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin containing part of the phrase "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

Their book was the stimulus for an Icon Films documentary on the fragment aired in Britain on Palm Sunday. Icon was granted unprecedented access to the fragment; the Santa Croce monks removed the glass plates so that the TV crew could film the lettering at close range. Interestingly, the Greek and Latin lines are written backwards, perhaps by a Hebrew scribe who would think that to be correct, as it is in Hebrew language. Thiede claims that is not a mistake a fraudulent relic monger would make, since no patron would settle for such an obvious error.

There is something providential about the re-examination of many of the artifacts of the crucifixion that have survived into the third millennium. The Scripture says, "They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced." Forensic scientists, historians, NASA experts, artists, medical specialists and others have laid before the contemporary world sufficient evidence of that "pierced one. " Our age is not deprived of the evidence recorded in the gospels of the man who asked, "Who do you say that I am?"

Josephus, the Jewish historian (A.D. 37-100), wrote of Jesus: "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man: for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive truth with pleasure. … He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, condemned him to the cross … he appeared alive again on the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold."


I pray everyone has a blessed Easter!