November 15, 2010
Hello,
What a joy it is to study bible prophecy and gain insight into the Lord's Word. Thanks for joining us!
Below are the headline topics of this month's newsletter:
- 1) Ireland's Fate Tied to Doomed Banks
- 2) Mystery Missile Launch in U.S.
- 3) Turning Churches Against Israel
- 4) Other Headlines
"For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus." Revelation 19:10 (NLT)
Ireland's Fate Tied To Doomed Banks
A recent Wall Street Journal article highlights continuing European debt problems. In May, it was Greece. Now, it's Ireland under the gun, and soon, it promises to be all of Europe.
In early September, Ireland's Finance Minister demanded a final worst case estimate for his country debt crisis. The final tally?
More than $50,000 per household:
"But now, investors are betting the bill could be higher still and could reignite Europe's sovereign-debt crisis. The unpopular government is bracing for collapse, and on Tuesday, Irish government bonds continued a week-long slide to a fresh record low. The debt is judged as risky as Greece's was this spring just before that nation begged for a European Union bailout."
This is just the latest story in a European debt crisis that threatens to blow sky high. The reason?
Well, aside from spending more money than they have, each of the nations in question - Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain, and others - ceded sovereignty over its currency to a foreign central bank. In this case, the European Central Bank (ECB).
If Ireland had control over its own currency, it could take the necessary steps to bring its debt crisis under control.
This is a problem inherent in the European Union and its common currency. Without common political and fiscal unity, the weaker economic nations will find themselves crushed under the inbalances imposed on them by the stronger nations.
The only way to end the European debt crisis once and for all is for nations like Ireland to either pull out of the EU and recirculate its own national currency or to cede its political and fiscal sovereignty to the European Union.
Given the Bible's prophecies regarding a revived Roman Empire, it seems more likely that Ireland and its peers will opt for further unity.
Mystery Missile Launch In U.S.
Last week featured one of the more interesting stories of the year when a local news crew captured pictures of what appears to be a missile launched off the coast of San Diego.
An explanation was never really given, with the U.S. military initially stating that they knew nothing of the event.
If you look at the footage, it's hard to say it looks like anything other than a rocket or a missile.
Amazingly, this story appeared then disappeared within a 36 hour news cycle. And it may be that the news footage is nothing more than a plane.
But what if it was a missile?
And what if the military is telling the truth when it says it knew nothing about it?
If the pictures from this story are from a non-U.S. missile, where did it come from? China? Russia? North Korea?
Was China sending a message to Washington? Were terrorists test launching a shoulder fired missle? The lack of answers should be an ongoing news story itself.
Turning Churches Against Israel
Anti-Israel British Anglican priest Stephen Sizer, and the evangelical creator of the pro-Palestinian movie "With God on Our Side," are touring America, hoping to change the mindset of evangical Christians who support Israel.
Sizer and his friends are markedly anti-Israel, pushing Palestinian propaganda to their audiences. As the article states:
"Sizer is incredulous that Christians would 'justify on theological grounds the theft of land, the demolition of homes, the destruction of property, the creation of ghettos and the denial of fundamental human rights, in order to create what is increasingly becoming a racist state.'"
Unfortunately, this type of thinking along with "replacement theology" (the idea that God's replaced Israel with the Church in regard to His promise to Abraham), is making great headway in American evangelical churches.
This is a sign of rot in the church.
God has made His intentions for Israel clear:
"Then he said to me, 'Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, 'We have become old, dry bones - all hope is gone.' Now give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel 37:11-13 (NLT)
According to God, when this happens, "you will know that I am the Lord."
"'Who has ever seen or heard of anything as strange as this? Has a nation ever been born in a single day? Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment? But by the time Jerusalem's birth pains begin, the baby will be born; the nation will come forth. Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth and then not deliver it?' asks the Lord. 'No! I would never keep this nation from being born,' says your God." Isaiah 66:8-9 (NLT)
Israel became a nation in a single day on May 14, 1948.
"'Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west and from north and south. I will bring my sons and daughters back to Israel from the distant corners of the earth. All who claim me as their God will come, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them." Isaiah 43:5-7 (NLT)
According to God, "It was I who created them."
"'But the time is coming,' says the Lord, 'when people who are taking an oath will no longer say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.' Instead, they will say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.' For I will bring them back to this land that I gave their ancestors." Jeremiah 16:14-15 (NLT)
According to God, "I will bring them back to this land that I gave their ancestors."
God made it clear through His Word long before we were born that He would bring the Jews back into the land of Israel once again.
To set ourselves against Israel is to set ourselves against God.
Now, does this mean that we should blindly follow any and all policies put forth by the Israeli government?
No.
But to say that Israel is an evil nation occupying land illegally is contrary to God's Word, and to say that modern day Israel has no place in God's plan is disingenuous at best.
Other Headlines
Man On His Knees Before The President
Reuters captured this photo of a man on his knees before a car carrying Barack Obama as he left a Chicago restaurant last month.
Is this a continuation of Obama worship? Or is it just a sign of how bad things have gotten in the United States both economically and morally?
Let's hope it's neither and this man is praying for the president.
Currency Wars Should Be Feared
In a recent investment note, Comstock Partners featured the following comments:
On Tuesday the market soared on the grounds that global efforts to engage in another round of monetary ease and devalue currencies would boost economies around the world. We think that the market's initial reaction is a wrong-footed move that will soon be reversed upon further reflection. What we are actually facing is an all-out global currency war and old-fashioned 'beggar-thy-neighbor' policies where every nation tries to devalue its currency to create more exports in order to boost its economy at the expense of every other nation.
It is obvious, however, that it is impossible for all currencies to decline in relation to each other. The failure then leads to other desperate measures to increase protectionist barriers such as higher tariffs, quotas and various restrictions on international capital flows. The result is a collapse of world trade leading to depression and the dreaded deflation that nations are trying to avoid in the first place.
This is a sign that central bankers around the world are failing in their myriad attempts to produce inflation, despite the cries of many who claim that hyperinflation is just around the corner.
In the article "Hyperinflation?" we addressed this subject early in the process, identifying the current economic downturn as a deflationary spiral.
The Great Depression was a deflationary event which witnessed most of the monetary events outlined in the Comstock Partners note.
So why does all this matter?
Because it illustrates that our current economic troubles are far from over, and economic crises have historically caused great political upheaval.
The Bible reveals that in the end times, one king will rise among ten and become dictator of the world:
"His ten horns are ten kings who have not yet risen to power; they will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast. They will all agree to give their power and authority to him." Revelation 17:12-13 (NLT)
The Great Depression gave the world Hitler, and it came closer than most people think to estinguishing freedom and liberty in the United States.
What will "The Great Depression 2.0" bring us?
Euro Under Siege As Now Portugal Hits Panic Button
With Ireland already in the spotlight, the European debt crisis has now spread to Portugal:
"The euro is facing an unprecedented crisis after another country indicated on Monday night that it was at a 'high risk' of requiring an international bail-out. Portugal became the latest European nation to admit it was on the brink of seeking help from Brussels after Ireland confirmed it had begun preliminary talks over its debt problems. Greece also disclosed that its economic problems are even worse than previously thought. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, raised the spectre of the euro collapsing as she warned: 'If the euro fails, then Europe fails.'"
Yet again, the European debt crisis threatens to blow up into a global economic meltdown.
Yet, lost in the economic story is an even bigger political story. Note the quote below (emphasis mine):
"However, the German government is expected to signal that Ireland may have to accept a 77 billion pound bail-out, along with a loss of economic and political independence, as the price of preserving the euro. Mrs Merkel said that the single currency was 'the glue that holds Europe together'."
In exchange for a bail-out, Ireland is expected to give up its economic and political independence. What will this entail?
And if contagion spreads throughtout the European bond market as speculated in the article, will the subsequent bail-outs result in a loss of economic and political independence for all of Europe or just those nations in need of a bailout?
We may be witnessing the birth of a new European superstate.
Thanks for joining us, and may the Lord bless you in the coming month.
Your friend in Christ,
Britt
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