Dear friends:

Today, June 6, 2005, is two famous anniversaries of prophetic significance.

1. D-day, World War II. On June 6, 1944, Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in France, the beginning of the end of Adolph Hitler's Nazi regime.  On this day, my father, with his 30th Infantry Division, 117th Infantry Regiment, was poised in England to hit the beaches shortly after the initial assault.  I was just a kid then, following the war on the radio.

In 1998, with my oldest son, I visited the beaches at Normandy where my father and others landed, as well as the nearby cemeteries and the battle route eventually taken through France by my dad and his buddies.  It was a stirring experience.

Particularly moving were the high cliffs of Pointe Du Hoc where 225 Rangers of the 2nd Ranger Battalion stormed ashore to attack the German positions.  Of these 225 men who made the initial assault of Point Du Hoc, 60 percent had become casualties when reinforcement arrived midday, June 8th.  Point Du Hoc has been left much as it was in June of 1944, a standing monument to the sacrifices and heroism of the 2nd Rangers.  See http://www.abmc.gov/ph.htm.

The two unprecedented world wars of the 20th century were no doubt fulfillments of Jesus' end-time prophecy of "nation against nation."

2.  Jerusalem Day in Israel (Yom Yerushalayim)  June 6, 2005 also commemorates the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, 38 years ago.  The Six Day (miracle) War began on June 5, 1967. On June 7, (the 28th of the month of Iyar according to the Hebrew calendar) Israeli forces broke through the Lions' Gate to the Old City.

This war marked the beginning of the end of the Gentile Age spoken of by Jesus in Luke 21:24, and, many believe, the "fig tree" (Israel), putting forth its leaves (Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip), for which Jesus said to watch.  This was no doubt the most prophetic event since the first century and a major sign of Christ's soon return.

An example of the significance of these events is the devil's desperate attempts to undo them by trying to divide Jerusalem again and steal the historic covenant land that Israel acquired, in self-defense, in this prophetic war.  Jesus said that Satan "comes to steal, to kill and to destroy."  There is no better description of Israel's enemies today.

Let us continue to watch Jerusalem, the city of the great King (Psalm 48:2), who will soon return there in glory and victory.

Jim