Netanyahu turns to Bible in tussle over Jerusalem

Posted by on 16 May 2010 | 0 Comments

In the News…

Reuters.  By Dan Williams.  Thursday May 13, 2010

JERUSALEM - Beset by questions about Jerusalem's future in talks with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached for the Bible on Wednesday to stake out the Jewish state's contested claim on the city.

Netanyahu told a parliamentary session commemorating Israel's capture of East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war that "Jerusalem" and its alternative Hebrew name "Zion" appear 850 times in the Old Testament, Judaism's core canon.

"As to how many times Jerusalem is mentioned in the holy scriptures of other faiths, I recommend you check," he said.

Citing such ancestry, Israel calls all of Jerusalem its "eternal and indivisible" capital -- a designation not recognised abroad, where many powers support Arab claims to East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

The dispute is further inflamed by the fact East Jerusalem houses al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third-holiest shrine, on a plaza that Jews revere as the vestige of two biblical Jewish temples.

Heckled by a lawmaker from Israel's Arab minority, Netanyahu offered a lesson in comparative religion from the lectern.

"Because you asked: Jerusalem is mentioned 142 times in the New Testament, and none of the 16 various Arabic names for Jerusalem is mentioned in the Koran. But in an expanded interpretation of the Koran from the 12th century, one passage is said to refer to Jerusalem," he said.  Read More

Donnie’s Remarks…

What time is it?

Anyone who reads this site knows that God’s Word is complex, especially when it comes to prophecy. For instance, I think the Book of Daniel predicts the first coming of Jesus the Messiah… to the day. Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy sevens (70 x 7 weeks of years = 490 years) teaches us that it was exactly 483 years from the going forth of the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem, to the coming of the Messiah. When Jesus arrived on the scene, the Jewish leaders should have been looking for the Messiah.

Daniel 9:24-27 (ESV)
[24] "Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
[25] Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.
[26] And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.
[27] And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator."

Reading the passage below, you see that on Palm Sunday Jesus fulfilled another prophecy that every leader should have understood.

Zechariah 9:9 (ESV)
[9] “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

I find it very interesting that the Lord held the leaders of Israel accountable for their inability to recognize the time and the signs of His first coming.

What about us? Are we going to be held to the same standard of accountability? Are we expected to know the season of the Lord’s coming? I know the Lord made reference to not knowing the exact hour or day of His return, but shouldn’t we have a general idea and understanding of what we are to be looking for? Absolutely!

I want to make you aware of something in the Book of Daniel. God’s Word is so incredibly accurate that it can have multiple layers of meaning. Such is the case with the Daniel 9 passage quoted above. In the last few months, I have come to realize Daniel’s “seventy sevens” has a second layer of meaning and application. Daniel’s seventy sevens can also be translated seventy “Shavuots.” We would say, seventy “Feasts of Pentecost.” That means the Daniel 9 passage could be teaching this… From the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem (which occurred on Nov. 29, 1947) to the coming of the Anointed One (The second coming of the Messiah) shall be 70 Shavuots or 70 Feasts Day of Pentecost.

The Jewish feast day of Shavuot is celebrated in the spring. This year it falls on May 19 which will make it the 63^rd Shavuot or Pentecost since the decree was given to rebuild Jerusalem in 1947. That means we could be entering the final seven year period. Date setting is a hazardous game to play and this could be some kind of incredible coincidence, but on the other hand it may be something that we should take note of. So what should we be looking for in the next few weeks/months?  The announcement of a seven-year peace agreement of some kind with the nation Israel, ongoing discussions regarding the dividing of the city of Jerusalem and the re-institution of animal sacrifices on the Temple Mount.  We should also begin to see the rise of a little horn (the Bible calls him the Assyrian) who will begin to make war north of Israel.  Also, earthquakes will continue to increase, as will wars and rumors of wars (the beginning of the birth pains).

I also believe that just before the end times begin, the book of Daniel will be unsealed for the final generation to have better understanding of the events they will be enduring.

The most amazing 'coincidence' of all is in Daniel 8 where we learn that the Antichrist’s time of authority in the end times will last for exactly 2300 days.

Daniel 8:13-14 (ESV)
[13] Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, "For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?"
[14] And he said to me, "For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state."

From this year’s celebration of Pentecost (May 19, 2010) to Sept 2, 2016 is exactly 2300 days!  This date could mark the end of Daniel's 70th week.

Daniel 12:12 teaches that there will be 45 additional days immediately following the tribulation. During this period three Jewish holidays will occur:  The Feast of Trumpets /Rosh Hashanah (Oct. 3, 2016), the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur (Oct. 12, 2016) and the Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot (Oct. 17-23, 2016).  Could this be the period of time when Jesus will return and fulfill the Jewish fall feasts? 

Click for more on Daniel's timeline: Daniel's Timeline