This is Daniel Whyte III with the Second Coming Watch Update. This is update #904. Let’s take a quick look at today’s prophecy-related headlines which point towards the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the end of the world as we know it.
First, today, under the Sign category of TURMOIL IN THE MIDDLE EAST — According to BBC News, US President Donald Trump has presented his long-awaited Middle East peace plan, promising to keep Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital. He proposed an independent Palestinian state and the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements. Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said his proposals “could be the last opportunity” for Palestinians. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plans as a “conspiracy”. Abbas said in a televised address from Ramallah in the West Bank: “I say to Trump and Netanyahu: Jerusalem is not for sale, all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain. And your deal, the conspiracy, will not pass.” The blueprint, which aims to solve one of the world’s longest-running conflicts, was drafted under the stewardship of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Thousands of Palestinians protested in the Gaza Strip, while the Israeli military deployed reinforcements in the occupied West Bank.
Second, today, under the Sign category of FAMINES — According to BBC News, The UN has called for international help to fight huge swarms of desert locusts sweeping through east Africa. A spokesman for the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation, called for aid to “avert any threats to food security, livelihoods, malnutrition”. Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are all struggling with “unprecedented” and “devastating” swarms of the food-devouring insects. The agency fears locust numbers could grow 500 times by June. The FAO said earlier this week that Ethiopia and Somalia have not faced an infestation on this scale for 25 years, while Kenya has not seen a locust threat this size for 70 years. South Sudan and Uganda are also at risk if the swarms continue to grow and spread. The FAO said: “The speed of the pests’ spread and the size of the infestations are so far beyond the norm that they have stretched the capacities of local and national authorities to the limit.” The only option left was “aerial control” – spraying insecticide from aircraft. The swarms have spread from Yemen across the Red Sea. Heavy rainfall at the end of 2019 created ideal conditions for the food-devouring insects to flourish. And the problem could get worse as the year goes on. Aside from growing numbers in east Africa, locusts have also been breeding in India, Iran and Pakistan, which could turn into swarms in the spring.
Third, today, under the Sign category of EARTHQUAKES IN DIVERS PLACES — According to ABC News, A magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred between Cuba and Jamaica. According to the United States Geological Survey service, the epicenter was located in the Caribbean Sea about 83 miles north of Montego Bay, the capital of St. James, and about 87 miles south of Granma, Cuba. It was a relatively strong but shallow quake with a depth of about 6 miles. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake is at the high end of the Richter Scale. It was initially reported at 7.3 but was quickly revised up to 7.7. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damages. According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, a tsunami warning was issued for areas off the coasts of Belize, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Cayman Islands and Jamaica in the quake’s wake. The center said those areas could experience waves as high as 3.3 feet above tidal level.
Fourth, today, under the Sign category of ARAB HOSTILITY TOWARD ISRAEL — According to The Jerusalem Post, ISIS spokesman and second Caliph Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi [HAA-SHEE-MEE] al-Quraishi [KUU-REH-SHEE] sent a recorded message to all the organization’s operatives, mainly those in Sinai and Syria, to begin conquering Israeli “settlements,” referring to both West Bank settlements and Israeli cities. It is the second time the terrorist group sent a recorded message since the death of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in October. In the recording, Quraishi [KUU-REH-SHEE] said that despite what the US and other countries may have thought of as the end for the terrorist organization with the death of al-Baghdadi, “we are still here, and we are ready to start a ‘new stage’ – hitting Israeli targets.” The newly-incumbent leader of the terrorist organization called upon supporters of ISIS to attack Jews in Israel and abroad with chemical weapons, declaring a religious war. Quraishi [KUU-REH-SHEE] also called on all Muslims worldwide to thwart US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, and added that “the Muslims who live in Palestine… will be at the forefront of the fight against the Jews [and] foiling the ‘Deal of the Century.’” The message instructed the operatives to begin targeting Jewish communities and markets, and to turn the conquered territories into fields of weapons and rocket experiments. Quraishi [KUU-REH-SHEE] said: “Today we have begun a new phase in our struggle with you. Our eyes now look towards Jerusalem.”
Fifth, today, under the Sign category of TURMOIL IN THE MIDDLE EAST — According to Reuters, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian Authority has cut all ties with the United States and Israel, including those relating to security, after rejecting a Middle East peace plan presented by U.S. President Donald Trump. Abbas was in Cairo to address the Arab League, which backed the Palestinians in their opposition to Trump’s plan. The blueprint, endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for the creation of a demilitarised Palestinian state that excludes Jewish settlements built in occupied territory and is under near-total Israeli security control. Abbas said: “We’ve informed the Israeli side … that there will be no relations at all with them and the United States including security ties.” Israel and the Palestinian Authority’s security forces have long cooperated in policing areas of the occupied West Bank that are under Palestinian control. The PA also has intelligence cooperation agreements with the CIA, which continued even after the Palestinians began boycotting the Trump administration’s peace efforts in 2017. Abbas also said he had refused to discuss the plan with Trump by phone, or to receive even a copy of it to study it. Abbas said: “Trump asked that I speak to him by phone but I said ‘no’, and that he wants to send me a letter … but I refused it.” Abbas said he did not want Trump to be able to say that he, Abbas, had been consulted. He reiterated his “complete” rejection of the Trump plan, saying, “I will not have it recorded in my history that I sold Jerusalem.”
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The prophetic passage of Scripture that we are looking at today is Ezekiel. Ezekiel 1:1-3 reads: “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar [KEY-BAR], that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s [JEH-HOY-AH-KIN] captivity, The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi [BU-ZEE], in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar [KEY-BAR]; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.”
Allow me to share with you some commentary on this passage from Exploring Bible Prophecy from Genesis to Revelation, by Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson.
God’s judgment against the Gentile nations (chapters 25-32) is included to demonstrate that the divine discipline of Israel is extended justly to all sinful nations, especially because the sin of these nations had been their oppression and persecution of the people of Israel, who represented God on earth. This is noted in the opening indictment against each of these nations by the words “because you said/did (something against Israel), therefore, I will” (specifics of judgment). This formulaic expression reveals that the standard for this judgment is that found in the Abrahamic Covenant: “I will bless those who bless you [Abraham’s descendants–national Israel] and the one who curses you I will curse”. The historical record supports the accuracy of these judgments in their fulfillment.
The second division (chapters 33-48) contains more distant predictions of Israel’s restoration in the end time and is therefore eschatological. These prophecies concern predictions of national Israel’s return, regathering, rebirth, and restoration (chapters 33-39). In this section Ezekiel observes the problem of Israel’s “false shepherds” and predicts the advent of the True Shepherd who will establish the New Covenant (chapter 34). Having laid this spiritual foundation, the prophet predicts the rebirth of the nation (chapters 35-36), its national regeneration, and its reunion in the millennial kingdom. This is punctuated with the prophecy of divine victory over the foreign armies in Gog’s invasion of Israel (chapters 38-39). The temple is the subject of chapters 40-48, which present the design and function of the messianic temple and the revival of the sacrificial service (chapters 40-48). These chapters provide the necessary climax to the prophecy of Israel’s final restoration because only the rebuilding of the messianic temple could sustain Israel’s spiritual relationship under the New Covenant and fulfill its national destiny to be a kingdom of priests.
In both divisions of Ezekiel, the Jerusalem temple figures prominently as the sign of God’s relationship with national Israel. Therefore the first division, which deals with the Lord’s judgment on Israel, is displayed in terms of the nation’s desecration of the temple and its destruction by foreign nations under the terms of discipline announced in the Mosaic Covenant. The second division deals with the reversal of the condition of exile and foreign domination of the land imposed as the result of the discipline. Return to the land with the ultimate restoration of national sovereignty and national spiritual rebirth is the promised blessing of the New Covenant, whose conclusive sign is the rebuilding of a temple to which God’s own presence has been restored.
If the Lord tarries His Coming and we live, we will continue looking at the prophetic passages of the Bible in our next broadcast / podcast.
Our Second Coming quote for today is from Tony Garland. He said, “Brethren, I do not wonder that worldlings and half-Christians have no love of this doctrine, or that they hate to hear about Christ’s speedy coming. It is the death knell of their gaieties and pleasures—the turning of their confidence to consternation—the conversion of their songs to shrieks of horror and despair. There is a day coming, when ‘the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of man shall be made low.’”
Let’s Pray
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If you are not ready for the return of Jesus Christ, may I encourage you to get ready today by receiving Him as your Savior. Here is how.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now that is bad news, but here is the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Keep looking up for your redemption draweth nigh. Let us join in the prayer of John the Revelator — “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” God bless you.
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