Quote: "There is "no particular reason for optimism," Segev said later on Thursday, adding that nothing has changed, and that there is "no indication" that Sharon will emerge from his semi-conscious state any time soon.

The former Israeli prime minister has been hospitalised ever since suffering a massive stroke on the 4th of January, 2006. On the 18th of December, 2005, Ariel Sharon was rushed to hospital by his son Omri after complaining of feeling ill. He was later confirmed by doctors to have suffered a minor stroke, and was subsequently released from hospital with medication. He received the well- wishes of world politicians, having just presided over Israel's disengagement from Gaza. But he was readmitted to hospital within weeks after suffering a massive brain haemorrhage. The stroke affected his speech and caused paralysis in his lower body. Doctors placed Sharon in a medically induced coma to try and improve his chances of recovery, but he failed to regain consciousness when the anaesthetic drips were removed. Sharon's decision to disengage from Gaza, which was intended to bring about peace on Israel's southern border, has proved to have been disastrous for Israel and the former prime minister. Gaza residents were given their eviction notices on the anniversary of the destruction of the First and Second Temples, prompting some to perceive the disengagement as a second Diaspora from the land of Israel. Some religious Jews perceived the disengagement as a judgement from God upon the nation for their failure to rebuild the Temple after recapturing Mount Moriah some thirty eight years previous. According to them, history was repeating itself. The nation of Israel wandered in the wilderness for thirty eight years following their refusal to believe the good reports of the promised land given by Joshua and Caleb. And now the modern nation of Israel was in a spiritual wilderness. Many Jews and Christians also perceived Ariel Sharon's coma as being directly related to his decision to divide God's land. Even before Sharon's stroke, some in my own assembly commented on those verses in Isaiah 29,and wondered that there was a prime minister in Israel bearing the same name. But who could have thought that these verses might have had any significance in relation to Sharon's present condition?

Isaiah29:1-4,9-10
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

But the strange coincidences don't end there. One of Israel's most prominent Kabbalist rabbis, Yitzhak Kaduri, once claimed during a Yom Kippur address that the Messiah would not come until Ariel Sharon died. What makes that statement interesting, apart from the fact that Ariel Sharon is still alive after having spent four years in a coma, are the other things that Kaduri has revealed about the nature of  the Messiah. His portrayal of the revelation of the Messiah reads almost like a summary of the life of Jesus Christ as described in the New Testament. 

Quote: ""It is hard for many good people in society to understand the person of the Messiah. The leadership and order of a Messiah of flesh and blood is hard to accept for many in the nation. As leader, the Messiah will not hold any office, but will be among the people and use the media to communicate. His reign will be pure and without personal or political desire. During his dominion, only righteousness and truth will reign. "Will all believe in the Messiah right away? No, in the beginning some of us will believe in him and some not. It will be easier for non-religious people to follow the Messiah than for Orthodox people. "The revelation of the Messiah will be fulfilled in two stages: First, he will actively confirm his position as Messiah without knowing himself that he is the Messiah. Then he will reveal himself to some Jews, not necessarily to wise Torah scholars. It can be even simple people. Only then he will reveal himself to the whole nation. The people will wonder and say: 'What, that's the Messiah?' Many have known his name but have not believed that he is the Messiah."

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, is said to have told Kaduri that he would meet the Messiah before he died. Kaduri later claimed to have met the Messiah in a vision in 2003. He died five years later. Kaduri revealed the name of the Messiah to his stunned followers after he died. He wrote a coded message on a piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope with the strict instructions that it not be opened until one year after his death. The note contained the following words...

Quote: "Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah's name, He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid. This I have signed in the month of mercy, Yitzhak Kaduri

In Hebrew, the letter abbreviation of the phrase, "He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid", apparently spells out the name Yehoshua or Jesus. The rabbi also seems to have had a fascination with drawing crosses, which he described as being "the sign of the angel". Did Yitzhak Kaduri come to know Israel's true Messiah before his death? Did he recognize the significance of His sacrifice upon the cross for our sins? Did he see Jesus in his dream? I don't know the answer to those questions, but if he did, it wouldn't be the first time a prominent Israeli rabbi has prophesied of the Messiah through Divine revelation.

John 11:49-52
And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

Will the Messiah return after Ariel Sharon dies? Sharon is 81 years old now. If this were true, even if he did recover from his stroke and lived a normal life, there wouldn't be much time left before the Messiah would return. We don't know when Jesus Christ will return, but we know that He will return. He promised it (John 14:3). The question is, are you ready to meet Him? You don't need a coded message to tell you who the Messiah is. It's written in the New Testament. Read it for yourself. And put your trust in the one who died for you, that your sins might be forgiven. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation today.

John 4:25-26
The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.  Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

Source Arutz 7, Israel Today

Quote: ""If Israel does not halt this plan, the Palestinian National Authority will ask the World Bank to stop the two-seas project, linking the Red Sea with the Dead Sea," said a Cabinet statement issued by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's office.

When my grandfather visited Israel some 25 years ago, an Israeli MK was explaining to his group how Israel was planning to construct a canal linking the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. They had all the money to build it and were planning to start construction the following year. But the Christian tour guide told the group he believed it would never happen. And it never did. The next year inflation went up and the plan was subsequently shelved. This latest canal project has also faced similar problems. It has been opposed on scientific grounds, over concerns that an earthquake could break the pipes and flood fertile farmland with deadly, salinated water. The Jordanian government has also objected to it on political grounds, fearing that a joint project with the Palestinians could result in Hamas gaining a foothold on their border. And now the Palestinian Authority are preparing to scupper the project over the settlement issue. And that may be the final nail in the coffin for this two-seas project. The truth of the matter is, the plan will never be realized, because the Bible states that this will only happen when Christ returns. As we have been thinking of late, when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to the Mount of Olives at the end of the great tribulation period, an earthquake is prophesied to split the mountain in two. And living waters from beneath the Temple Mount will flow out of Jerusalem, and towards the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, and these waters shall be healed (Zechariah 14, Ezekiel 47). Geologists have now discovered massive reservoirs of water underneath Jerusalem and the surrounding area. It is believed that an earthquake in the Jordan Valley Transform could be the trigger that releases this water, which will flow down from Jerusalem - 2500 feet above sea level, to the Dead Sea - some 700 feet below sea level. You have seen for yourself how accurate the Bible is when it comes to predicting future events. That's because it was written by someone who knows the end from the beginning (Revelation 1:8). The fact that the Lord must come before the Dead Sea disappears completely shows us just how close we may be to His return. The question is, are you ready to meet Him? The Bible says that living waters will one day flow out of the rock at Jerusalem. But greater than that, the Lord has promised that living waters can flow out of your inward parts, when you trust in Him for salvation. Why don't you trust in Him for salvation today.

John 4:13-14
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Revelation 21:6
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Source Jordan Times, Abbas Watchman

Quote: "Rabbi Riskin: “I once spoke before a very large ICEJ convention in Jerusalem, and I told them: 'I think I know your theology pretty well, and I think it is this: Right now, you're not out to proselytize Jews. Right now, you believe we should be good Jews, and come to Israel to live, and then there will be what you call Armageddon – a war of Jews and Christians versus the Moslems. The Jews and Christians will win, then there will be a resurrection of the dead, and then you believe that all the Jews will be converted to Christianity. I told them that of course I clearly can't accept this, but in any event, it will be a few hundred years before this all happens, and so in the meantime, since you're not out to convert us now, we need all the friends we can get.' They all applauded with great enthusiasm. "'However,' I continued, 'I want to emphasize this: Our sources say that Redemption will follow Repentance. Yes, there will be a Resurrection of the Dead, and Jesus may very well be among those who will be resurrected; he was basically a religious Jew. But when he wakes up, he'll look around and ask, 'What's this Sunday business – the Sabbath is on Saturday! And what's this Easter stuff – it should be a regular Passover seder! And why are you eating bacon and eggs, when the Torah forbids pig meat?' And so what will happen is that there will be conversion – but in the other direction.' This time, there was no applause – just silence." In conclusion, Rabbi Riskin said, “I will not cooperate with any Christian group or person that I learn is taking active steps to proselytize Jews. But I can say that in any event, what I'm seeing is the opposite; I don't see that the groups that I'm dealing with are converting Jews, but rather many of them are coming close to keeping more of the Torah. I truly think that when we look at the extent of that phenomenon, it seems that these truly are times of the Messiah."

The Rabbi's views of Christian theology are of course somewhat skewed. I believe it comes from their misconception, that during the tribulation period Christians are to invade the land of Israel and forcibly convert all the Jews to Christianity. This will not happen. Perhaps this belief stems from the verses in Revelation that talk of the 144,000 Jewish believers (Revelation 7, 14), and the idea of Jesus Christ coming back to reign in Jerusalem. Perhaps it stems from Paul's statement in Romans 11 that all Israel will be saved. The Bible declares that it will be the nation itself that will turn to Jesus Christ for salvation, when they look on the One whom they pierced (Zechariah 12:10). To many Orthodox Jews, Christianity is a Gentile 'religion', and you can't be a Jew if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Unfortunately they don't understand their own Scriptures, which prophesied of the Messiah's coming (Isaiah 7:14, 9:16, Micah 5:2), of His sacrifice for sin (Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Zechariah 9), and His Second Coming to this earth (Psalm 2, Zechariah 14). They don't understand that Jesus never came to start a new religion. He said in Matthew 5:17, "Think not that I am not come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil". As I have been reading of late, many Orthodox Jews don't even have their own Bible. They study commentaries such as the Talmud and Mishnah, but the Bible is simply recited every Shabbat at the synagogue. Many Jews don't even understand what they are reading. They talk of keeping the Torah, but ignore the one of whom it speaks (John 5:39). Like in Catholicism, the Rabbi is the only one authorized to give the proper interpretation of the Scriptures, and thus many ordinary Jews have not even studied the Bible for themselves. They are kept in darkness. If Christians are not out to 'proselytise' Jews, if they are not interested in making them aware of their own Messiah and their need for the forgiveness of sins, there is something seriously wrong. Paul said the Gospel is to the Jew first (Romans 1:16). There is no dual covenant. Despite Israel being judicially blinded to the identity of the Messiah so the Gospel could be preached to the Gentiles (Romans 11:25), individual Jews who do not trust in the Messiah for salvation will still perish. We Christians, who have the great privilege of knowing the Messiah, have a great responsibility towards the Jewish people. Many Jews remain in spiritual darkness simply because we Gentile believers have not had the courage to speak up. We think to ourselves, they have their own religion and its not up to us to interfere. That kind of thinking is from the devil. It's not about religion, it's about a living relationship with the Messiah (John 1:12). Do you know a Jewish man or woman who is still in spiritual darkness? They may be just waiting for someone to show them the way. Do you know of a Jewish man or woman who would like a Bible? The Society for the Distribution of the Hebrew Scriptures provides Hebrew Bibles free of charge for Jewish people. Do you have a personal relationship with the Messiah? If not then the Hebrew Scriptures declare that there is salvation for you in Christ Jesus. Trust in Him for salvation today.

Isaiah 49:6
And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Source Arutz 7

Quote: "The new discoveries could therefore save Israel from serious natural gas shortages beginning in 2012 and the continued use of dirtier fuel sources while building, at great cost, the infrastructure needed in order to import liquefied natural gas. They could save Israel from depending on British Gas, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt, with their associated political, military and economic implications.

So what has all this got to do with end time prophecy? Israel's position in the Millennial Kingdom, in which the Jewish state will become the head and not the tail of the nations, and will lend to many nations and not borrow (Deuteronomy 15:6), seems to indicate that the land of Israel is rich in natural resources. God describes it in Exodus 3:8 as "a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey". Not only that, but the Bible states that oil will be discovered in Israel. A few days ago I pointed out how end time prophecies concerning the tribe of Judah are being played out before our very eyes, through the disengagement from Gaza, along with efforts to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Today we are looking at another one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Once again I have taken a map of Israel, and drawn an outline around the areas that were inhabited by each of the tribes. I have imposed this on a modern map of Israel. This time we are looking at the tribe of Asher, which dwelled in the north west region of Israel, around the city of Haifa. As you can see, Haifa is located on the 'toe' of Asher. Haifa happens to be Israel's industrial heartland, and it is also where these recent gas deposits have been discovered. These were the words of Moses, that he prophesied over the tribe of Asher, before they entered the promised land.

Deuteronomy 33:24
And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

Shortly before he died, Jacob called his twelve sons together, to give them his patriarchal blessing. He also spoke a prophecy over each one of them, the fulfillment of which can be traced throughout the entire Scriptures, and which continues to this very day (Genesis 49:1). When Jacob began his blessing, he said to his sons, "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days", Genesis 49:1. Some wonder why Jacob never got round to telling his sons what would befall Israel in the last days. Jewish rabbis teach that Jacob both did and didn't get round to telling his sons what would befall them in the last days. He did not mention any of those things which we would normally associate with the time of Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). But Jacob's prophecy concerning the tribe of Judah represents a clear picture of one who was coming, who was manifest in these last times for us (1st Peter 1:20).

Genesis 49:22-26
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Looking at the prophecies of Judah, it is clear that the one who is being spoken of here is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the one that the archers sorely grieved, when He gave His life for us upon the cross of Calvary (Psalm 22). He is the Shepherd of Israel, the Good Shepherd that would give His life for the sheep (John 10:9). He was the Stone that the builders of the nation rejected, and the same is become the chief corner stone (Luke 20:17). He was the one who was separate from His brethren, in that He was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Do you know Him? Have you trusted Him as your Saviour? He bore God's punishment for your sins when He died upon the cross (John 3:16). And all who believe in Him can know their sins forgiven (Acts 13:38-39). Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31).

Source Haaretz, The Inner Circle